Genesis
by Book117Worm
Summary: Danny, now one of Vlad Masters's rogue half-ghost experiments, stumbles through Amity Park trying to recover his lost memories and identity, while he fights ghosts and tries to defeat the man who ruined his life. All with a little help from his new friends, of course: nerd Paulina Sanchez and ghost hunter Valerie Gray.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: Will include PTSD, OCs, OOCs, changes in characters' canonical ethnicity and sexuality, violence, memory loss, potentionally inaccurately portrayed science and mental health issues, and torture. This is NOT a torture fic. Torture will only occur in the very first chapters. No OCS will be main characters, don't worry.**

—-

He was on fire. His whole body was on fire.

Every inch of his body was consumed by pain. It felt like his whole being was being pulled apart bit-by-bit. The electricity pulsing through his body was mind-numbing. A terrified and pained wail left through his lips, but he was silenced by the cloth bound around by his mouth. Tears flushed down his pale face. He desperately tugged at the restraints holding him down to the table.

"Stop, stop the experiment," a deep male voice ordered, stepping closer to the boy on the table. He was a middle-aged man in a lab coat with a suspicious vibe and the goggles on his eyes hid the menacing look in his eyes. Vlad Masters glared at one of his assistants. "Ms. Felisha, anymore electricity and you'll stop his heart."

Felisha, one of the woman gathered around the subject, flipped off the switch to the electrical machine hooked up to the boy. She took off her goggles, "Sorry," she said without a hint of guilt. She smiled brightly. "I got a bit excited."

Vlad sighed deeply, tiredly turning away from the female scientist. He pressed on the record button in the recorder in his hand. "Give me an analysis."

A man sitting in front of many computer screens turned back to his objects of focus. The vital signs of the subject flashed back at him. "Subject #040403's has a bpm of 147, an above average heartrate, but is to be expected. No abnormalities in brain activity, breathing, or blood circulation," he reported back. "No physical difference, most of all."

Vlad sighed heavily into the recorder, tapping its side absentmindedly. "You know the drill. Collect the DNA samples immediately. Place him in the recovering unit."

Felisha, a very bubbly woman and eccentric scientist, clapped her hands excitedly. "Ooh! I can't wait!" Vlad held out the recorder to her and she quickly swiped it out of his hand to go into a very loud analyzation of their subject.

Vlad turned away from his workers, who were now taking orders from Felisha, and left the room. The card-required door locked loudly behind him. He walked down the hallway of his basement with a proud stride, briefly glancing into each of the door windows the corridor of rooms held.

A door in front of him swung open, bringing the chilling noise of a cardiac monitor flat-lining that echoed across the hallways. A white man in his early thirties stepped out, exasperatedly readjusting the glasses across his thin nose. He wore a lab coat, like the rest of his employees, with a card and identification key hanging on a lanyard around his neck. The man closed the door behind him and it locked in place.

When he spotted his employer only a few feet away, he bowed his head slightly in respect. "Dr. Masters."

Vlad straightened his shoulders, remaining standing tall with his hands clasped behind his back. He gave the scientist a curt nod before he continued walking. "I sure hope that whatever was so urgent as to miss today's experiment was handled, Mr. Johnson."

The man, Johnson, sighed heavily. He followed closely to his employer, almost walking side-by-side with him, but not quite. He was Vlad's most trusted scientist and most brilliant. He was the chief scientist and watched over most of the experiments, subjects, and analyzations.

"Of course it was, Dr. Masters," he said. Vlad paused in front of the elevator doors and Johnson pressed the up button for them. "A subject flat-lined. We weren't able to revive them."

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Johnson swiped his identification card and then pressed the next floor's up button. "My, my, that is quite unfortunate," Vlad hummed, gazing up at the elevator ceiling. "The cause of death?"

"I ordered an autopsy report, but I'm confident it was ecto-radiation from _that _ecto-acne outbreak," Johnson sighed, clutching the files in his left hand tighter as he rubbed his eyes with his right hand.

A mishandling of one of their subjects with ecto-acne accidentally infected a good number of their other subjects. They were unaware that ecto-acne was airborne, therefor, deadly to anyone within its premises. The incident occurred over three years ago and killed two of their scientists and four of their subjects. Some of them died within a few days of contamination, others were bed-ridden and sickly for years. The subject that had just passed away from it was one of two of their last surviving subjects from the outbreak.

The whole incident was a giant headache and near impossible to cover-up from the police. How were you to hide the sudden deaths of two scientists working under VM Genesis that died of a ghost-related disease that wasn't even supposed to exist?

The elevator slowly came to a stop and opened its doors. Johnson gestured for Vlad to leave first. The chief scientist followed his both down the floor full of offices to the largest one at the end.

Vlad swiped his key on the lock. "Audio recognition?"

He leaned down closer to the lock system. "Vladimir Masters, PHD., and guest."

A green light popped out from the system, scanning the both of them up-and-down before it slowly retracted. "Password."

"Butter biscuits."

"Password confirmation."

The sound of locks unlocking echoing through the empty hallway. It was high-security on this level. They needed it, after all. What they were doing was far from legal, and their research valuable to any who understood its significance.

The door swung open.

Vlad entered his office first and flicked the lights on. He walked to sit behind the large chair behind his desk. His office was covered from head-to-toe in paper, file cabinets, and books about genetics and ghosts.

Johnson shut the door and locked it behind them, quickly taking his seat across the table from his boss. He placed the files in his hands onto the desk.

Vlad reached into his desk and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He flipped open the top file and began to read its contents. "Subject #031107 went into cardiac arrest at 14:40 military time on June 22nd, 2019. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the subject for forty minutes with no success. Subject #031107 passed away at 15:20 military time on the same day. Subject had been suffering from the illness known as ecto-acne since the outbreak in 2016. Subject was coughing up ectoplasm fifteen minutes before cardiac arrest." Vlad's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Autopsy report ordered."

Vlad lowered his reading glasses and looked up at his head scientist. "Was the subject injected with ectoplasm or exposed priorly?"

"No, sir."

"Very interesting," he muttered, stroking his chin, and continuing to read the report. "It appears the ectoplasm was introduced into their body when they were contaminated with ecto-acne." His eyes sparkled. "Felisha is going to have a field day over this."

Johnson picked up a file and gazed over its contents, even though he had read them a million times before. He paused, softly closing the file in his hands. "Anything on today's subject?"

Without looking up from the file he was reading, Vlad answered. "Nothing yet. He should be in the recovery unit under surveillance."

Johnson looked down at the file his hands and placed it down on the table before he began to hesitantly speak. "We're running out of ideas, Dr. Masters."

Silence. He took that as a cue to continue.

"We've tried to merge a ghost and a human. We've tried to mate a human and a ghost. We've edited DNA to make space for ectoplasm," Johnson paused. He stared at Vlad nervously, who continued to read through the daily files like it was nothing. "We've edited ectoplasm to look like human DNA and used it with human DNA and tried to create an artificial baby. We invented a disease that filled subjects' systems with ectoplasm. We've tried transfusing ectoplasm into blood, but subjects' blood hardened like it would if it were given any other blood type." He caught his breath. "We've only managed to create temporary fusion between DNA and ectoplasm. Our best bet would be to find a half-ghost and study their DNA, but none have surfaced in nearly three hundred years. Now, we're infusing subjects with ectoplasm and shocking them in the hope that the electricity will cause the two to merge. We're running out of ideas."

Vlad's fingers around the file tightened and Johnson knew he was in trouble. "For a smart man, Johnson, you really are a fool." Vlad stood up, his form shadowing his worker ominously. "You think that I don't know that?" His eyes narrowed. "But it is possible." He walked up to one of his walls, gazing at the paintings that hung on it. Each one was unique and originated from a different culture, but each depicted former half-ghosts. "Humans have known the existence of ghosts since their own beginning. Half-ghosts are scattered throughout history, pre-dating much before BC."

Johnson wearily watched Vlad point to the first paining. A Native-American styled painting with a woman. Her long black hair floated unnaturally around her. Beautiful eagle wings folded behind her back. "Wohali of the Cherokee Tribe."

He continued on.

"Hercules and Perseus from Ancient Greece. Ji Gong of the Chinese Song Dynasty. Kimiko from Feudal Japan. Luan from South Africa. Uki from the Inuits."

Vlad turned around on his heel, his hands clasped behind his back, and his eyes glaring at his employee darkly. "If they can achieve half-ghosts through myths and legends, through praying to their dead ancestors for protection, through birth and gifts from tribal elders," his eyes grew darker, "then, we can achieve it through science."

Johnson's heart was beating rapidly. He was insane for even speaking the idea to Vlad, but he was desperate. He had immediately joined Vlad's company when he heard their objective. To be a part of the world's greatest creation! Oh, how young and foolish he had been. Ten years after joining VM Genesis, though, he was desperate. He didn't want to be known as the wacky head scientist who hopelessly tried to create a creature from children's fairy tales! His talents were being wasted! Oh, all the brilliant job opportunities he had turned away just to go on a wild goose chase!

"And what if it is just that?" he asked, swallowing thickly. He shakily readjusted his glasses.

Vlad made no movement and fell absolutely silent. "Please escort yourself out, Mr. Johnson."

Johnson stood up so quickly he almost knocked the chair he was sitting in over. "Sir—"

"I will not repeat myself."

He walked back to his desk and coldly sat down. It was clear then, the conversation was finished. Without another word, Johnson left his office.

-—-

Danny was dizzy.

So, he did what any other insanely dizzy person did. He leaned over the side of the bed and puked. The worker who had been watching him made an annoyed nose of disgust before he left the room to find a janitor. Danny sunk back into the bed sheets with a small satisfied smile, happy that he had caused them some trouble, even if his mouth did taste pretty awful.

He made a face at the taste in the mouth, then glanced down at the watery puddle of puke near the bed. It was more oddly colored water than food, except for a few chunks of mysterious food he'd rather not look at longer to determine.

Groaning, Danny turned his head, glaring up at the bright light of the room. He squinted, frowning heavily. Where was he?

He trie to remember what had happened before he passed out. Surgical tubes slid under his skin. Breathing tubes stuck up his nose. Blinding, mind-numbing pain.

The experiment. They experimented on him again.

Danny winced, looking down at his hands on top of the white bed sheets. He must be in the recovery unit. It wasn't the first time he had been here and it certainly wouldn't be his last. He should've been use to it by now. He had been here for how many years? One? Two? Somethings, though, you could never get used to.

His body was covered in bandages that ached awfully underneath. He probably had burn marks that would last for a while. There was an IV inserted into his arm, administrating what he would believe to be painkillers. How long had he been unconscious?

Johnson, Felisha, or Vlad weren't anywhere near him. So, the experiment must've been a failure. Again.

Danny sighed in relief, nuzzling his nose into the pillow. No more experiments for now. For now, he would try to sleep.

—

Felisha loved science, maybe a little too much. She had graduated from college with her doctorate in genetics and a minor in ghost studies and made her way to VM Genetics. The job was perfect for! A job involving ghosts AND genetics? Okay, so maybe she was a bit crazy in the mind and somewhat of a mad scientist, but could anyone blame her? Never before had anyone attempted to create a half-ghost like Mr. Masters! Sure, their project was making more errors than success, but isn't that what science is? Failure birthed from success!

With an excited grin, she closed the top of the thermal cycler. She kicked herself off the table, spinning on her swivel chair across the room. The mad scientist got up from her chair to get a sample from the fridge. Then, once again, sat down and kicked herself away. This time, though, to the group of microscopes cluttering a table.

Felisha put a dropper to the sample of blood, then squeezed a drop of it onto a slide. She dropped the dropper to the side and quickly slid the slide underneath the microscope to examine the contents. After a few seconds of adjustment, she finally got it right.

She pressed her face up closer to the microscope, feeling her hand around to find the recorder. Several things made loud clangs as she knocked them over in her fumble. Finally, she found it and pressed record.

"Subject #040403's blood has a consistent texture and fluidity," she hummed, adjusting the microscope as she spoke. She grinned when she saw small bits of green in the red blood and reached for a small tool to poke it with. The scientist tried to pick a small bit of ectoplasm off the blood, but it stubbornly stuck. "Oh! It seems that the subject has small pieces of ectoplasm, no bigger than a millimeter each, embedded into their blood! It appears that the process of using volts of electricity to fuse ectoplasm and DNA has been a success!"

She paused, excitedly tapping on the recorder in thought.

"Though! I wonder how long the symbiotic relationship will last. In the past, subjects who had ectoplasm embedded into their blood stream either died from the transfusion, their immune systems destroyed the ectoplasm, or the ectoplasm began to eat away at the subject's blood. I am excited to see how this one goes!"

Felisha reached out for a small ghost taser. It was a trick that she learned examining previous subjects' samples. When shocked with the ghostly energy, symbiotically fused blood and ectoplasm would light up green. However, this also seemed to increase the rapid demise of the fusion since neither of the liquids were inside a host.

She flicked the taser on and poked the sample. The whole sample slowly lit up a bright glowing green for a few seconds before fading back to normal. She put the taser to it again. And again. And again.

The mad scientist was mesmerized by the reaction and had quickly lost count of how many times she had electrocuted the sample. When she did, she paused and slammed her head to the table. "Oh, nooo!" she cried to herself, reaching for the dropper and another slide. The fusion was surely ruined!

Felisha removed the slide from underneath the microscope, pouting to herself and the recorder. She almost dropped the slide in shock. "Amazing!" she cried out, putting the slide closer to face. "It seems that despite being shocked multiple times outside the body, the ectoplasm and the human blood were able to maintain their symbiotic relationship!"

One of the machines dinged in the background. "Oh!" She shot up from her chair, dropping the recorder. "The results are ready!"

She excitedly bounded over to the machine, eagerly watching as it printed out the results from the DNA analysis. She ripped off the paper as soon as it finished, almost ripping it in half. The scientist's eyes excitedly scanned the results, until they widened slowly. "Oh, boy! Mr. Masters is gonna want to hear about this!"

—

Dr. Masters was down in the lab in an instant with Johnson following not far behind him.

Felisha bounded over to them, shoving a copy into Vlad's hands before bouncing off again. "Just look at their results! They're incredible!"

Both of the scientists eyes widened. Johnson opened his mouth to speak, but Felisha interjected before he could.

She squealed excitedly, "The ectoplasm has been transferred into a codon sequence! Creating a perfect unity of ectoplasm and human genetics within the DNA strand!

Johnson's jaw dropped in shock and he fumbled to readjust his glasses. He stuttered, "So, does that mean the subject's—"

"—Oh, no!" she exclaimed, widening her arms. Her large grin was almost terrifying. "The subject isn't a half-ghost— but his DNA is perfectly infused with bits of ectoplasm, creating a perfect base for more ectoplasm to be infused!" she swooned, "The amount in his bloodstream right now isn't nearly enough to create any powers, but," her grinned widened even further as she played with the goggles on top of her head, "with some work, a human with ghost powers is achievable."

A dangerous grin spread across Vlad's face. Oh, if only they knew how terribly ironic this situation was.

"Excellent job, Ms. Felisha," he praised, clasping his hands to his chest. "Now, remind me, doctor, how are you not chief scientist?"

Johnson seethed silently. Felisha, oblivious to the poke at her co-worker's pride, scratched her chin in thinking. "Uh, I don't have many years of experience?"

"And yet, my dear," Vlad smiled, "that is nothing to stop your brilliant mind."

She smiled, "Thank you, Dr. Masters."

Johnson scowled in annoyance. His eye twitching. Of course, of course the real possibility of successfully creating a half-ghost only surfaced _after _he brought up his concerns.

Vlad folded his hands behind his back and turned to his female employee. "Doctor, I trust that you'll prepare the upcoming experiment and all the materials needed."

"Of course, Dr. Masters!" she sang. Johnson looked frantically between the two. That was his job! "Is three days too soon?"

Vlad paused in the doorway. "It is never too soon for science, my dear."

—-—

When Danny woke up, he was back in his regular bed. He sighed in relief, snuggling his nose into the annoyingly flat pillow. No more recovery unit. No more experiments.

A sudden weight at the end of his bed told him that someone had just sat down near his feet. He blinked wearily, the intruding bright light of the room blinding him. His head was swirling quickly and aching painfully. He grunted as he pushed himself to sit up, wincing at the weight placed on his injured arms.

"Wow," a girl's voice said, "they really did a number on you this time."

It took Danny's sleep addled and pained mind to recognize who was talking. He forced a soft chuckle, looking down at himself. His arms were wrapped in bandages. There was a tough feeling of something restraining on his chest, which felt like a large wrapping. He was sure that if he moved the blankets of the dull bed, his legs would also be covered in bandages.

"Yeah," he said, "I guess they did."

Natalie, the girl, smiled at him sympathetically. She was only few years older than him, but her pale skin and malnourished form made them look the same age. Her hair was thin from all of the stress from being trapped there for so long.

Ben appeared behind her. He was in his early twenties, but looked healthier than Natalie. He had been there shorter. His skin was still covered in small scars from when he had picked at them so frequently when he had been on drugs.

He frowned at all of the bandages he could see and the bits of them sticking out from Danny's standard uniform. "Surprised they even let you out of recovery."

"Who cares," Danny scoffed, "as long as I'm not in there anymore."

"Did you hear the news?" Ben asked. The younger boy stared up at her curiously. "Clairie passed away." Natalie's eyes saddened.

Danny tried to flex his fingers, but they were stiff and ached to the bone. "Are we going to her funeral?"

Ben's eyes sparked with an odd flare. "I'll tell you at dinner," was all he said before walking away to the other side of the room.

Danny watched him go, confused, then scanned the large room. It was their dorms, where they all slept. The walls were white and so were the floors. There were no windows since they were several stories underground, so the only sources of light were annoyingly bright luminescent lights hanging above. There were twenty-or-so twin beds, all in perfect order, lined around the walls of the room. Each bed had a small white board hanging from it, with a subject's number written in erasable marker. Most of the boards were empty. In fact, so were most of the beds. Their sheets perfectly tucked in, undisturbed.

At some point, there had almost been fifteen of them. The number was always fluctuating, with subjects dying and new ones being brought in. Now, though, there was only four of them left. Him, Ben, Natalie, and—

"You look like shit."

Riley.

Danny shot back immediately. "Still a hundred times better than you."

Riley sat down on his bed to Danny's side, smiling at him. He didn't deny the younger's claim.

This wasn't a place to smile and joke, and they usually didn't, but one of them surviving and coming back was always something to smile about.

Danny's eyes swept over Riley quickly. The boy was only a year older than him. He was handsome despite the trials of this cruel place. His dark hair was thin from stress, but still very pretty. His eyes were dark from pain, but they still sometimes sparkled magnificently.

Riley cocked his head to where Ben was sitting in his bed on the opposite side of his room. "Don't mind him, he's insane."

"What was he even talking about?" Danny frowned.

Natalie sighed, drifting away. "He'll tell us at dinner, apparently."

Riley turned to him, concern flickering across his face. "Are you okay?" Danny breathed roughly through his nose, glaring at him. "Sorry, standard question."

"I'm fine," he grunted. "Watch."

He kicked the sheets off himself, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and stood up. Pain immediately shot up from his legs and knees buckled underneath his weight. Riley tried to reach for him, but he was already on the cold floor.

Danny grunted against the cold tile. Riley hardly looked amused. "Nice job."

The younger boy scowled up at him, wincing at the burning pain. "Just shut up and help me up."

Carefully, Riley raised the other up onto his own bed, with only some pained hissing from the younger. Riley got up onto his bed, giving the injured Danny most of the room by laying on his side.

Danny's head was spinning. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm looking at you like I normally do, Danny," he said.

His own name sent a shiver down his spine. It was so good to hear that. His name. Not Subject #040403. Danny.

Now, if only he could remember whatever the rest of his stupid name was.

Riley slowly reached up his hand and began stroking Danny's hair. "That and my eyebrows are the only places on my body that still have hair on them," Danny said, wincing at the memory of the lightning hot electricity.

Riley frowned at him softly. "Don't joke about that."

He smiled, scorching his face closer to the older's. "Sorry."

Danny closed his eyes, the calm stroking of his hair relaxing him. Flashes of electricity burned underneath his eyelids.

Danny's eye lids flew open. He was not going to have a panic attack. He was not going to have a panic attack. Riley was right there. He was not going to have a panic attack.

"It's over," the other boy whispered, continuing to softly stroke his hair. "It's over." Danny reached out his hand and grasped Riley's hand, placing it between them.

Danny didn't even realize how hard he was breathing. Slowly, his breathing returned back to normal. He grasped the older's hand tighter. "Do you..." The question died in his throat. "Do you... remember?"

Riley's hand in his hair paused before it continued again. "The experiments? No," he said softly. "I'm unconscious."

Danny didn't realize he was shaking. "From the pain?"

"No," he shook his head. "They give me anesthesia. Don't you?"

He swallowed hard. No.

He licked his lips nervously. "Maybe they don't give me enough," he suggested, trying to ignore the fact that it seemed everyone else was given drugs before the experiments, but he never was. He was wide awake during every single one of them.

"Maybe."

"Hey, you two," a guard scolded as he approached them. "Dinner time."

Their faces flushed. Riley slipped out of the bed, standing up quickly. Danny sat up, embarrassed. "I- I can't walk."

"I'll get a wheel chair."

The guard came back in a few minutes in a wheelchair. They lifted Danny into the wheel chair then the guard escorted them down the hallway while Riley pushed the chair.

The cafeteria reminded him over every other cafeteria. Basic. Blank. But mostly smelly.

All of the workers of the company were eating right now, cheerily munching down on their afternoon meal. As if the blood of the young wasn't on their hands.

Everyone brought into the program was somewhere between the age of eleven and thirty five. Younger than that, their bodies weren't formed enough to experiment on properly. Older than that, health issues caused by age could ruin experiments. So, they settled for teenagers and those in their twenties. Run-always, drop-outs, and drug addicts. People no one would miss.

The boys waited in line for their food, then found their places at the table with the others. The only table surrounded by guards, of course.

Upon seeing Danny's wheelchair, Ben turned pale. "Oh, boy, this is not good."

"You tell me," he muttered, "my whole body hurts."

He really needed to stop making sarcastic comments in this environment, but it did make him feel a whole lot better.

Ben started to mutter furiously to himself. Natalie watched him silently, poking at her plain toast. "Ben," she said. "What are you doing? What did you want to tell us?"

He glanced to Danny and a sudden pit opened up in his stomach. Danny looked down at his feet, shuffling them uneasily. He suddenly felt like a burden.

Ben blew air through his nose. "I overheard Masters and Johnson talking last week. Masters has an important meeting with investors in three days. He'll be away and Johnson will be left in charge."

Natalie grew weary. "Where are you going with this?"

"Clairie's funeral is also in three days."

"So, there's a lot of things happening in three days," Riley frowned. "What's your point?"

"It's the perfect time to escape."

At the simple mention of the last word, they all shot up from their seats to cover Ben's mouth, even Danny who immediately regretted. Their eyes flickered rapidly around them. The guards were all momentarily distracted with talk amongst themselves.

"Are you insane?" Natalie hissed, removing her hand from his mouth. The other boys moved their hands and sat back down. No one answered her question.

Escape.

Escape was an old dream everyone used to have when they were first brought in. Sure, some of them did try to escape, but none of them ever succeeded. Once they were captured, they were subjected to the worst experiments and placed in solitary confinement. They never lived long after that.

Ben began to softly speak. "The graveyard is behind Masters's house, we know that. We're currently several stories underneath Masters's house, we know that," he whispered. "Masters's will be away with a good portion of the guards and won't be able to give orders, and Johnson will be busy scrambling to think of orders to give them. We just need to escape from there once we're outside."

Silence. It was a ridiculous plan. Impossible.

"And where would we go after that?" Riley asked, skeptical.

"The police."

Natalie looked down. "We have no idea what's our surroundings once we're outside the mansion. They'll catch up to us in no time."

"It's worth a shot," Ben insisted.

"Ben, they'll kill us."

"Would you rather be trapped here you're whole life, Nat?" he asked and she fell silent. "You've been here longer than any of us. Do you really wanna spend the rest of your life like this?"'

"We'll never escape," she said softly.

"But it's worth it," he persisted. "Dying trying to get out of her is better than dying at the hands at one of those mad scientists." He gestured to all the people in lab coats around them.

"Danny is injured," Riley said.

Danny was silent. If he was in any other shape, he would've immediately agreed with Ben, but this time was different. He was sick and nauseated to his stomach just sitting there. There was no way he was going to be able to run in a week, much less three days. Danny felt tears pricking at his eyes. But he also wouldn't stop his friends from their only window of freedom.

"I heal quickly," he lied, looking down at the many bandages wrapped around his skin. "I'll be okay."

"We're not leaving you behind, Danny."

"And I'm not letting you guys stay behind," he shot back. "This place is a nightmare. No one deserves to be stuck here. This is your guys first chance of freedom in a longtime," he said, biting his lip. "I don't want to hold you guys back. I'll make the trip."

Fear glittered in Natalie's eyes. "There's no changing your mind, is there?"

"No," he said. "I'm going. One way or another."

She sighed, deflating. "Alright."

Riley stared at him with a concerned frown. He reached out for Danny's hand and squeezed it lightly. "If you can't make it, Danny. You can't make it. I'll stay behind."

Danny felt bad lying. He did, but it was probably for the better. "It's really not that bad. I promise."

Ben grinned. "Then, it's settled," he said. "In three days, we escape."

Not even their craziest dreams would be able to cook up the events that would take place that day.

—-

**A/N: Hello :) This is my first written fanfic in a very long time and I'm honestly nervous to post it. I haven't written in a while, so I'm only starting to pickup my writing skills again. Please know I don't want this to be a dark fic! So, although it is a bit depressing in the beginning, it won't last long. Please feel free to leave any comments . **


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Scenes depicting torture ahead. No more torture scenes to follow.

—

"Oh, butter biscuits," Vlad frowned, looking down at his calendar. "It seems I have a meeting with investors on the day of the experiment." He glanced to his chief scientist and narrowed his eyes. "If only someone had told me."

Johnson flushed at the blatant sarcasm. "I'm your chief scientist," he squeaked out, "not your assistant."

Vlad scowled at him briefly, before he rolled his eyes, sighing deeply to himself. He propped his chin up with his hand. "Yes, I suppose I should get one of those." He reached for his office phone and dialed in Felisha's number.

"Oh, hello, Dr. Masters!" she greeted chirpily. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, my dear," Vlad began, "it seems that I have mistakenly made a meeting with investors on the same day of your experiment."

"Oh," she said. "I could just reschedule it, doctor."

"Nonsense. Do you have all the preparations made?"

"Everything but the subject, sir."

Vlad smiled, "Then, I'll just make sure to tell them I'll be running a little late. Good day, Ms. Felisha." He placed the phone back on its receiver.

Johnson looked baffled. "Sir, with all do respect—"

Vlad raised his hand in the universal sign for silence. "Yes, I know. This meeting is important, but science waits for no man, Mr. Johnson." He stood up from his chair, folding his hands behind his back, and looked down at his employee darkly. "After the experiment, you will take the subjects to their little funeral at 7pm, while I am gone. Shall anything go wrong," his eyes narrowed, "you will be held accountable, doctor."

Johnson swallowed thickly. "Yes, sir."

—

Three days didn't sound like a lot of time, but three days in the program felt like an eternity. Each second ticking closer to a disaster waiting to happen— but they were desperate, even if it meant their lives.

When the third day arrived, Danny was able to walk fine, except for a few aches and pains. He didn't dare question how he was able to heal so quickly. He decided to just be grateful for the time being.

He would have never expected to see Felisha standing in the doorway of their communal dorm, calling his subject number.

Danny's whole world was suddenly spiraling. His chest was rising and falling rapidly with the warning of an oncoming panic attack. "No!" he cried out. He swung his legs and arms rebelliously, desperately trying to break free of the guards restraining him, but to no avail. His friends could do nothing but watch him be dragged away.

He could tell just by the equipment already set up that this experiment would be _much _worse than the one days before.

A human-sized sphere with a clear front was suspended a foot above the air.

Tears were streaming down Danny's face. He could barely hear his own pleas. "Please no," he whimpered, "Please no."

The guards lifted him up to the sphere. His back collided unkindly with the boarding inside. There were cuffs on each corner and the guards roughly locked each one of them into place.

Danny closed his eyes, tears pouring down his face harder. This couldn't be happening again. Not today.

They slipped tubs underneath his skin. Some were for breathing, some were to monitor his heart rate, but he had never seen the mysteriously large ones before. Someone placed a face mask over Danny's mouth to assist his breathing.

Felisha motioned for the guards and the other scientists to step back. She grabbed the front of the sphere, pulled it over Danny, and locked it tightly into space. The sphere slowly began to rise into the air.

Danny screamed in anguish, but his voice came out hoarse. He was tugging at the cuffs on his hands and legs so roughly, he could feel them digging into his skin. He was trembling uncontrollably.

Why today?

—

Vlad looked up from the clipboard, watching contently to himself as Subject #040403 kicked and screamed, desperately trying and failing to escape the wrath of Ms. Felisha's experiment. He observed silently in the door way as the scientists tried to get the wailing teenager under control.

"Excuse me, Dr. Masters," a voice said behind him.

Vlad turned to look at the person, who was pushing a cart full of medicine bottles. He smiled to himself. Ah, the anesthesiologist. "We won't be needing any of those today, doctor," he said, smiling.

The anesthesiologist looked unsure. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Absolutely."

The doctor nodded curtly once, then turned around and left. Vlad turned back to the lab, smiling cruelly to himself. He turned back to the scientists, watching them in the background like a movie.

The corners of his mouth twitched even further when he saw the tear-streaked face of the subject. Oh, how terribly and wonderfully ironic that the subject closest to becoming a half-ghost under his experiments would be him.

Jack Fenton's youngest and only son, Daniel.

Daniel was unlike the other subjects. Only in the way that he had not been randomly picked off the street. No, he had been chosen. Vlad had sat at his deck, looking between the pictures of the Fenton children for hours, until he had come to his final decision.

Vlad paused his thoughts, watching as the sphere was raised to the air, with his hand resting on the door knob. The guards backed up to the corners of the room, giving the scientists more than enough room to work. Smiling to himself, Vlad closed the door.

One day, he would get revenge on Jack Fenton for all he had put him through those twenty years ago, but for now, his son would have to do.

—

It was worse than the last.

Danny couldn't describe how unbearable the pain was. He wasn't sure he would be able to three months later. It was the blinding pain. The type of pain that made everything else completely fizzle away until there was nothing left of your thoughts. He could barely hear someone screaming through the loud crackling of electricity. Was that him screaming?

Tubes were pumping neon green substance into his blood. It was sure to be ectoplasm. It was going to solidify his blood.

These people were insane.

Suddenly, a light brighter than the crackling electricity flooded the room.

"What is that?" Vlad called over the noise, "Cut the power off!"

Felisha fumbled for the controls, quickly turning the electricity all the way down. The scientists watched in awe as light still consumed the subject. The light began to fade, pulling itself towards the center of the subject, until it concentrated into a solid white ring. The ring split in half, each half slowly moving across the subject's body. Once they had passed, the lights faded away.

The scientists gasped, stepping backwards, except for Vlad who stepped forward, a dangerous twinkle of fascination sparkling in his eyes.

The boy in front of them was far from the one they had put in. It was as if someone had placed a photo negative over him. His skin was tanned darker than it had been before, with an inhuman white light surrounding around him. His clothes were now singed and badly burnt. They had gone from the standard white pajama-like uniform all of the subjects were given to black rags hanging off the subject's thin frame. Most notably, the boy's dark black hair was now stark white and pure as freshly fallen snow.

When the bolts of electricity finally came to a stop, Danny barely felt it. His mind was swirling so rapidly he was sure to throw up. His whole body was still on fire. It felt like he had been ripped apart molecule by molecule and then forced to put himself back together in the same breath.

He tugged on the metal cuffs on the table and they instantly shattered. He collapsed against the front of the sphere, shaking and breathing heavily. The smell of burnt clothes, flesh, and hair swirling around him. He squished his eyes closed tighter.

The scientists watched him in awe. He broke free from the steel like it was glass!

"Statistics," Vlad ordered, without moving his eyes from the glowing boy in front of him. "Statistics now." The scientists stoped their enamored starring and scrambled back into their positions.

"Heart rate detected! Slower than average but definitely there!"

"Brain wave patterns remain consistent!"

"Ectoplasmic energy detected!"

Felisha gasped at the boy, moving her goggles onto the top of her forehead. She glanced wildly between the boy and Vlad. "Did we...?"

Her employer smiled widely at her. "I believe so."

The lab door suddenly opened, slamming loudly into the wall. Johnson stood in the door way, desperately grasping at fallen papers, while he talked hurriedly on the phone.

The smile on Vlad's face immediately disappeared. Anger flooded his features and his whole body tensed. He began to fume, "Johnson, what did I tell you about interrupting—"

"Sir, theinvestorscalled," Johnson rushed out all in one breath. "They're threatening to pull all ties."

Vlad's face fell even further. "Oh, sugar cookies," he blurted, stretching out his hand, and making a grabbing motion for the phone. "Here, give it to me."

Johnson quickly handed over the phone. Vlad grabbed it from his hands and swiftly walked out the door. Johnson quickly followed after him, closing the door behind them.

Felisha turned away from the door to walk closer to the sphere, humming delightfully to herself. She tapped her chin with her pen, staring at the boy curiously. This boy was no doubt a ghost. So, they had done it? They had really, _really_ done it?

She pulled up a swivel chair and sat down, grinning brightly.

"Subject rakes a 4.8 on the ecto-entity scale."

Felisha frowned to herself for a moment. Only a 4.8? Oh, well. She sighed, slumping slightly in her chair. She would just have to take what she could get.

She suddenly stood up, pushing the chair backwards. "Unlock the containment unit so we can do more testing."

—-

Hands scooped him out of the sphere, gently hoisting him up. Danny groaned, a pounding headache echoing through his head.

Fingers poked out his eyelids, trying to stretch them open. Startled by the sudden prodding, Danny accidentally phased through the arms of the guards, landing on the ground with an uncomfortable grunt. He looked up at the scientists, gasping for air. Disturbing ectoplasmic green eyes stared back at them.

He felt so... weird. Why did he feel so light?

Soft white hair fell in front of his eyes.

With wide eyes, Danny slowly raised his hand to stroke his hair. Yes, that was his hair.

He turned to look down at his hands, which twitched despite him not ordering them to. Had his skin always been that tan? And this green stuff on his hands, the same stuff his whole body was covered in, what was it? The substance was cooling and seemed to increase his healing by a long shot. The incredible pain was already quickly ebbing away.

Danny felt sick to his stomach. He looked down at his bleeding form and ragged clothes, and watched as his own form blinked out of existence for less than a second.

He scrambled to his feet, backing up into the guards. He stared up at the mad scientist in horror. "What did you do to me?" he asked. His voice cracked and echoed around the room unnaturally.

A mad sparkle danced in Felisha's eyes. "I made you better."

His eyes glowed brighter. Anger rushed forward into his body. "You—"

The guards' grip on his arms tightened. Danny's eyes narrowed.

He twisted his right arm in the guard's hand, then grabbed his wrist, and twisted it with a new found strength. An ominous crack echoed through the room. Silence fell across the room.

How did he have strength? How was he conscious? What exactly did they do to him?

Danny glanced to the clock in the corner. 7:10 pm. The escape plan. The funeral. He could still make it.

The guard in his grip hissed, trying to slip from his grasp. Danny raised the guard's arm, leaving a clear shot at the side of his ribs. He connected his foot with the guard's rib and another sickening crack followed. The guard collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Everyone suddenly shot into action.

The other guard holding onto Danny gripped onto him tightly, ready to throw him onto the ground. Before he could, Danny twisted his arm, ripping his hand out of his grasp. The guard stumbled forward in shock. Danny stuck his leg out and tripped him. The guard slammed into the ground with a loud grunt.

"Hold it, ghost!"

He turned to the other guards, all of who were now holding ecto-guns.

"Doctor," said one of the guards, stepping in front of Felisha. "Please get help."

It took her several seconds to process the words. She was too stunned and enamored with the ghost boy's show. When she came to her senses, she nodded and quickly slipped out the door. Danny bolted after her.

He flipped over the heads of the guards, landing with superhuman flexibility and grace. He slammed the guards into each other, smashing their ecto-guns to the floor.

An ecto-blast suddenly connected to his side, sending him rolling across the floor. He winced as his back came into contact harshly with the door. His side was burning with the shot of energy as the whining of the ecto-guns filled his ears.

An odd tingly feeling suddenly slipped over his whole body. Just as it was there, it was gone. Danny landed on the cold tile floor with an 'oof!'. He looked around quickly. Did the door just become intangible for a second? Did he just become intangible?

Danny scrambled to his feet. Questions later, action now!

He ran down the hallway. Guards chasing after him, yelling, and firing their weapons. They, however, had trouble hitting a running person.

Where was he supposed to go? He needed an access key to open the elevator. So, the stairs?

The snoozing guard woke up with a shock at the blasting of ecto-guns. Danny ran at him full-speed. The guard fumbled in fear at the oddly glowing teen, but the boy phased through him and the door to the stairs, just like he had to the lab door earlier.

Danny caught himself from falling, but his body seemed to think otherwise. His hands were sinking into the floor like he was in quick sand. Alarmed, he ripped his arms out of the ground, jumping to his feet. He quickly began to ascend the stairs. The door slammed open and an ecto-blast flew past his face. He ran faster, skipping three or four steps at a time.

He went past each of the floor levels, pushing himself to go higher up.

They were underground. This was a facility underneath Masters's house. The top floor would lead him to the ground floor on the surface.

He eventually came face-to-face with no more stairs and door with a large '1' painted on top of it. He shook the door handle frantically, until he figured out to push it to swing the door open.

Danny rushed through the door, quickly slamming it behind him. He took off again, weaving in and out of fancy hallways and creepy paintings, towards the direction he knew where the graveyard was.

The guard blocking the door stared at him in alarm when he caught sight of the other. In the blink of an eye, Danny kicked him in the gut, then threw him into the hallway over his shoulder. He quickly opened the door, closing it just as fast behind him.

The rush of warmth hit his body as the air conditioner gave way to summer's heat. He glanced around the graveyard frantically.

It was far from special. The graveyard was a small piece of fenced in land, empty of flowers and beauty, but filled with small little headstones. Each headstone was wooden and no larger than someone's hand. In each of them, a subject's number was carved into the face.

The other subjects looked up at the intrusion, stepping back in shock at the intruder.

They were gathered around a small plot, a small wooden box at their feet, which was sure to be carrying the ashes of their former friend.

Johnson and the guards watching over the proceedings watched him wide-eyed, stepping in front of the teenagers. Johnson's eyes narrowed. "Who—"

Danny suddenly locked eye contact with one of the boys. "Riley," he gasped out, searing pain suddenly overcoming his limbs.

Their eyes collectively widened. "Danny?" they gasped, stepping out from the guards. The boy stumbled towards them, collapsing into their arms.

"Get ecto-guns!" Johnson barked to the guards, "Quickly!" The guards rushed back inside. Johnson turned back to the children. "All of you are going to stay right here."

They pulled their friend to his feet, staring at him with shock. Danny tugged them over to the nearest side of the fence. "We don't have much time," he said. "Let's go."

The others quickly circled around him. Danny kneeled on the ground, holding his hands out to lift then throw them over the fence.

Natalie gently placed her foot in his hands. She gripped onto his shoulder tightly, staring down at him with sad eyes. "Danny," she whispered gently. "What happened to you?"

He inhaled, struggling to come up with a response. "I don't know," he admitted, quickly changing the subject. "You ready?"

She nodded. Danny lifted her up slowly then threw her over the fence.

"Hey!" Johnson called out, "What are you doing?"

Ben approached Danny wearily. Again, he repeated the process. Just as he was about to throw Riley over the fence, the door swung open. Guards rushed through it with an assortment of weapons, pointing them all at the two. Their ecto-guns whined with energy at them.

Danny threw the other boy over the fence in alarm. An ecto-blast flew past his face and Danny stumbled backwards in surprise. He swerved through the ecto-blasts and prepared to jump. With superhuman agility, Danny jumped to the top of the fence, then pushed himself off the edge.

He landed on the grass with a soft thump, looking up at the others for a second. Riley and Ben were trying to carry Natalie in between them, who was wincing in pain.

"Nat is hurt," Riley said.

"I landed funny," she frowned, guilt resounding in her voice.

His own wave of guilt washed over Danny. He jumped to his feet and sprinted towards them, kneeling down in front of Natalie. "I can carry you on my back."

"Danny—"

"Just trust me."

Ben suddenly yelped, dodging an ecto-blast that had burned through the old wooden fence.

"It can't hurt you."

"I don't want to find out!"

"Let's go!" shouted Danny, hoisting Natalie onto his back. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and shoulders.

They took off. The sound of guards yelling at them following closely behind. The four swerved through the fancy garden, twisting and turning through fancily-cut bushes and half-naked statues, with the sun quickly setting behind them.

Ben pointed ahead across the road. Where the property ended, across the road, a large forest appeared. "Over there!"

Natalie's grip tightened as Danny effortlessly bounded between ecto-blasts. He dodged an incoming blast seconds before it imploded.

"How.. how does he do that?" Ben panted, watching the boy in front of him with wide eyes. Riley shook his head back in confusion at him.

Riley's eyes widened. "Duck!" he shouted, pushing Ben into the ground. A net flew over their heads and wrapped around a tree. The two quickly stumbled to their feet and ran after the other two ahead them. "We're too close together!" he shouted

Danny glanced behind him at the two. "Split up!" he ordered, crossing the last bit of the property into the woods.

Riley and Ben disappeared in the mangle of trees and roots. Ecto-blasts flew past them, smashing into the trees around them. Danny ran faster despite the growing weight on his back.

The ecto-blasts became fewer and fewer. Soon, they could only heart them in distance.

Danny hoped over a fallen tree branch, not pausing in his run when he landed. He had to keep going. He had to lose them.

Somewhere in the distance, Riley screamed out in pain.

Danny nearly tripped over his feet when he stumbled to a sudden halt. Pain shot through his legs and his heart caught in his throat. "Riley!" he screamed.

Natalie tugged at his shirt in alarm. "Danny!"

It was too late by the time he looked up at the net flying towards them. Danny yelped, jumping to avoid it. In the shock of the moment, Natalie cried out and lost her grip. She fell off Danny's back, tumbling into the darkness of the forest.

Panic consumed Danny. "Nat!" he cried out. "Natalie!"

The only answer he received back was his own voice echoing against the trees. Anxiety seized over him. Had she been knocked unconscious? Where was she? Where was Ben? Riley?

An ecto-grenade landed at his feet and he jumped back to avoid its impact. Its explosion sent Danny flying into a nearby tree. His back connected to it with the sickening crunch of wood. He winced. An ecto-blast burned into the tree only a few feet above him.

He had to keep going. He had to keep going.

Danny stumbled to his feet and took off again. Fear grasped him tightly as he ran. Where were his friends? Had he just abandoned Natalie? Had they been recaptured?

A nauseating feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

He rushed past trees so quickly that they all became a blur. The wild life who spotted him rushed into hiding at the speeding boy.

He had to keep going. He wasn't going back there.

Despite that he had left the sounds of explosions and ecto-guns a long way back, Danny continued through the dense forest, swerving in and out of the darkness, with only the soft light of the moon and his own glow guiding him.

At some point, Danny had finally realized his legs weren't moving anymore, but the trees were still moving past him in a quick blur. He looked down and gapped. His legs were floating above the ground. In fact, his whole body was floating above the ground. He was flying. He was honest to God genuinely flying.

Danny yelped in surprise.

The startle from his new powers caused Danny to lose control, sending him crashing into the ground. Danny tumbled against the harsh forest ground, scraping his arms and legs. He cried out as his whole body exploded with pain.

He laid in the the darkness for a long second, pressing his head into the grass, and trying to ignore his throbbing headache. His breathing was heavy and uncontrollable. The sound of the forest night life echoed around him, but their harmonic chorus was no comparison to the pounding drums of his heart.

He was so, so tired...

Wincing and clutching his stomach in pain, Danny passed out. A bright white light enveloping him as he did.

—

Her ghost tracker had brought her to the the edge of the forest surrounding the park.

Valerie stood on her hover board in the peaceful summer night. The street lights and the moon gave little light to the deserted park. Her tracker beeped once more, alerting her that she was getting closer to the ghost. Her board hovering silently in the night.

Finally, she saw it. It was collapsed a few feet into the forest, near unconsciousness in the soft grass. It looked like a teenage boy. Its hair was a soft white, gently catching the light of the moon. Its clothes were black and ripped and burned beyond recognition. It was breathing heavily.

Valerie's eyes narrowed. Breathing?

This was certainly a strange ghost. It didn't seem to realize she was there.

She raised her arm at the spirit, her ecto-gun unfolding from her suit's wrist. The ecto-gun whined softly to life. But before she could shoot, a sudden white light consumed the ghost. Valerie quickly flew backwards, preparing for a possible explosion, but it never came.

She watched in silent awe as the light condensed into a ring around the ghost's waist. The ring split in half. Each half slowly moved towards one side of the body. When the light disappeared, a teenage boy was passed out before her.

A _real _teenage boy.

The ghost had suddenly lost his ghostly appearance. His glow had completely disappeared and dark black hair replaced his unnatural white hair. He looked to be badly bleeding.

Valerie lowered her gun in shock. What? She glanced down at her tracker. The green dot of the ghost that had just been right in front of her had disappeared from the radar.

Huh? She thought to herself in bewilderment. Even if the ghost had disguised itself as a human like the ones in the past, it still would've appeared on her radar.

She floated down closer to the boy, now curious, but still very much cautious. Well, it's not like she could leave him here.

—

A/N: I know a lot of people love torture fics in this fandom, but I'm not one of them. If that is what you're here for, I'm sorry, but that's about as much torture as there will be in this fic. I want it to be more about Danny rediscovering himself with new powers and new friends. He will have PTSD flashbacks, but that's really the extent from here on out.

The original premise from this fic started with two different ideas: 'What if it wasn't Tucker and Sam?' and 'What if everyone knew about halfas from the very beginning?'. Then, it just kinda snowballed from there. In this AU, humans have known about the existence of ghosts and halfas almost as long as their own. Halfas are usually spiritual leaders, but one hasn't surfaced in centuries. Vlad has dedicated his whole life to become the first man to intentionally create a half-ghost.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them! Thank you to all the reviewers from the last chapter :)


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Danny realized when he came to was that he was no longer on the forest floor. His head was being propped up by a soft pillow. His back was against something soft yet solid. A bed? Silk sheets rubbed against his ankles and a warm blanket covered his chest.

He shot up into a sitting position and immediately regretted it. His head ringed with a headache and his body seemed to ache in every crevice possible.

The two girls standing at the end of the lavish bed stumbled over themselves in surprise. For what felt like minutes, they all stared at each other in wide-eyed.

The first girl was latina, with long pretty black pushed into a ponytail. She wore a fuzzy and slightly oversized yellow sweater and a pair of jeans. Her turquoise eyes were set behind a pair of thick-framed glasses.

The second girl was definitely more eye-catching than the first, only because she was dressed in red, full-body suit of armor, pointing an ecto-gun at him.

With her eyes still focused on the boy, the latina reached out to her friend and gently pushed her hand with the ecto-gun down. The other raised her arm again. The latina pushed her arm down again, but rougher this time.

The armored girl, turned to her friend, annoyed. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "He's a ghost!"

"He's not hurting anyone!"

"That's because he just woke up!"

"He looks pretty human to me," the latina argued with a huff, folding her arms over her chest. "You can't just point an ecto-gun at everyone we meet!"

"Watch. Me."

The latina jumped onto the other girl, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to get the ecto-gun. "Give it to me!" she hissed, making a grabby motion with her hand.

The armored girl almost fell over with the added weight on her back. "Stop it, Paulina!"

The latina, Paulina, finally got ahold of the ecto-gun and engaged in a vicious game of tug-of-war. "Put. It. Down!"

"No!"

"You're being rude, Valerie!" she shouted, ripping the ecto-gun out of her hands. The gun flew out of both of their grasps, however, and smashed into a nearby wall. Valerie pointed her fist and the technology of her red suit rushed forward to create an ecto-gun at her wrist. She immediately pointed it at the alarmed boy in front of them. Paulina sighed in defeat.

"Alright, spook," Valerie said. Her ecto-gun whined loudly at him. Danny swallowed. "Who are you? Most importantly, what are you?"

Danny looked between the girls back and forth quickly. What was going on exactly?

"Valerie," Paulina hissed, clearly somewhat embarrassed by the other girl's reaction. "You're scaring him!" she complained, hiding her face behind her well-manicured hand.

Valerie ignored her. Paulina calmly walked over to a nearby stand, then casually pushed the expensive looking ornament off of it. It fell to the ground with a loud 'clang', but didn't break.

Valerie scrambled in surprise at her actions. "Paulina!"

"Ms. Gray," a male voice called from the other side of the door. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes!" she blurted, eyes glancing frantically between the door and the latino. "I just walked into something— it's okay!"

Paulina moved along the wall and took a painting off it. She held it above her knee, eyes narrowed. "Lose the suit, Val, or the painting goes."

The armored girl glared back at her. "You wouldn't."

She raised her knee higher to the painting. "We're not gonna get answers or trust from guns, Val," she stated. "Now, retract the suit or the painting goes."

Valerie glanced back at forth between the both of them, before she sighed in defeat, her shoulders slumping. "Fine," She grunted, pressing a button at her wrist. The red suit suddenly retracted until it had completely disappeared. An African-American girl with curly hair, wearing a yellow top, turned to him darkly. "Alright, ghost, you win," she scowled. He swallowed thickly.

Danny's mouth opened and closed in silence. Who exactly were these people?

Paulina rolled her eyes, carefully setting the painting down on the ground. She walked back over to the other girl at the foot of the bed. "Sorry about that," she flushed, embarrassed. Her face lighting up a soft pink. "I'm Paulina— and this is Valerie."

Valerie leaned forward, arms crossed. "Don't think I trust you, spook," she threatened, eyes narrowed.

Paulina smacked her on the back of the head. She returned her focus back onto Danny. "Valerie found you in the woods— maybe, uh, two nights ago? We've been taking shifts watching over you here."

He looked around. Where exactly was here?

It looked like he was in a guest room, a very large one at that. It was fancily decorated from head-to-toe, even the bed he was sitting in was lavishly decorated.

He didn't know what to say. He looked at Valerie and blurted the first thing that wasn't related to his current predicament. "Is that nanotechnology?"

Valerie blinked at him in surprise. "Yeah," she said slowly, "pretty cool, isn't it?"

Danny nodded. "Do you like inventing?" Paulina asked.

He looked up in thought. The only times he could clearly remember inventing were when he was bored at the facility and had taken to making toothbrush robots with spare batteries. It was something to keep his hands busy and it had always felt like an almost natural instinct.

He frowned slightly. "I... I guess so."

The girls nodded wearily.

"I..." he struggled, fumbling with his words. This was one of the last places he expected to end up. "I'm Danny."

Paulina made a small step forward, a kind smile on her face. "We're not gonna hurt you, Danny—"

"I don't know," Valerie shrugged. "We might."

Paulina shot her a dirty glare. Danny looked between the two. "Sorry, but um, what's the relationship here?" he asked, gesturing between the two.

Their eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well," Valerie started, "we're best friends, usually."

"But we do disagree about Valerie's ghost hunting techniques," Paulina said, jabbing a thumb at her crudely.

Danny scrunched his nose up. Ghost hunter? He did suppose that explained the odd suit.

Valerie rolled her eyes at her friend, crossing her arms. "Well, he's not dead, is he?" Paulina only glared back at her.

Danny took the silence to look down at himself. His arms were wrapped in new bandages and gauze, and it felt like his legs and torso were too. He was wearing a bright red shirt that was definitely not his.

"Uh," he spoke up, tugging at the worn-out material on his chest. "Who's shirt is this?"

"My brother's," the latina supplied.

Danny frowned slightly to himself. Speaking of clothing, it also felt like he was wearing shorts, which also were most certainly not his. He tried to not think about how they got it on him.

Paulina hesitantly sat down at the foot of the bed. It squeaked softly at her weight. "Do you know your parent's number? So, we can call them?"

He paused, then flushed, picking at the bandage on his hand. "I don't remember my parents," he said quickly, softly.

"Oh," Paulina blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

That seemed to strike a small chord of empathy within Valerie. "Do you have anyone we can call?" she asked.

"No."

She sighed, tugging at her hair in frustration. "Look, we're trying to help you—"

Danny shot back immediately, offended at her tone. "I can't go back from where I came." he stated.

That caught their attention.

"Where is that?"

He wavered for a second. "A lab."

The two rapidly blinked in surprise. "Huh?" they asked in unison.

Danny looked down, balling his fists up in the fancy sheets. This was ridiculous. Was he really going to tell him? Who else was going to help him? "When you found me, I... I didn't have this appearance, did I?"

"No," Valerie answered. "You had white hair and you were glowing. Not to mention that you showed up on my ghost radar."

So, the experiment worked. Danny thought to himself. But that couldn't be... He couldn't be—

"We... we called it the program." He steadied his breath and pushed on. "We were kidnapped off the streets and taken there... the whole time I was there, they only had one objective..." Was he shaking? "Creating the first man-made halfa."

"—That's impossible!" Valerie immediately shouted. She looked confused and almost outraged. "Halfas aren't—"

"Halfas can't be made," Paulina interrupted, frowning. Her thoughts were swirling. She rubbed her chin in thought. "To even think you can make one... it's—"

"Mad science?" Danny offered.

"I was gonna say preposterous, but yeah, that works too."

"So, they succeeded," Valerie concluded, staring at Danny with cautious eyes. Her arms were folded over her chest. "That's... that's the only way to explain your dual appearance— and why you're not showing up on my radar now."

Paulina fixed a cautious but curious gaze on him. Danny was shaking as he refused to make eye contact with either one of them. This couldn't have been happening— but it was. He had seen it. His white hair and glow. His ability to fly. His intangibility. His momentary invisibility. He had felt it, too. He had felt the impossible grace and strength flowing through his veins after something that should've hospitalized him for weeks. Even now, he could feel that he was rapidly healing by the second. He shouldn't even be alive, let alone conscious.

"You said we," Paulina said gently.

A scene of him crying out Natalie's name in the forest darkness and then bolting when he received no answer flashed in front of his eyes. A horrible weight of guilt settled deep into his chest.

"There..." he trailed off, "There were others..."

"Halfas?"

"No... I..." he fiddled with his hands. "I'm the first. Their first real success... we tried escaping several nights ago, but we got separated in the forest." He suddenly looked up at Valerie with terrified eyes. "Please tell me you saw others," he begged.

Her eyes softened with sympathy. She looked almost sad. "No. I'm sorry. Just you."

Danny kicked the sheets off his legs, pulling them to his chest, and burying his head in his knees. His vision was going bleary with tears. "I..." he croaked, trying to push down the obvious creak in his voice. "I abandoned them."

"We'll find them," Paulina suddenly said, eyes gleaming.

"Paulie," Valerie frowned. "We can't—"

"You're a superhero, aren't you?" she asked, turning her excited gaze on her. "Something fishy is obviously going on! Someone is out there experimenting on kids and trying to create halfas! Halfas!"

The black girl frowned in thought, turning to Danny. "Halfas can't be created," she said in a tone that sounded like she agreed with her. "Not until now."

"Maybe," he began, voice shaking slightly. "Maybe I'm just a human with ghost powers?"

They all frowned wearily in thought.

"Should we try the police?"

"No!" Danny shouted. The two stared at him in shock at his outburst. He stumbled with his words to continue on, "He's— he's evaded law enforcement for years! He's probably—"

The two girls leaned forward. "He?"

Danny pulled his head out of his knees and shuffled uncomfortably. He could see his awful smiling face without having to close his eyes. A shiver ran down his spine. "Masters," he spat out the name like it was poison in his mouth.

"He's the one behind—?"

"Yeah."

"Masters is a common surname," Valerie frowned, uncrossing her arms. "That doesn't help us much."

"Maybe, but he's going to be after me," he sighed, criss-crossing his legs. His shoulders sank "He's dedicated his whole life to creating a halfa. I'm... I'm the first that he's ever come really close to. He'll by looking for several weeks before he orders experiments to start up again."

"Experiments..." Valerie muttered softly, glancing down at the bandages on the boy in front of her. When she had found him, he was unconscious and badly bleeding. Had his injuries been from an experiment? The thought made even her sick.

"Danny," Paulina began, shuffling her feet on the carpet with a small frown, "is there anyone we can call to help?"

Faces with names he couldn't remember flashed before his eyes.

He sunk into the bedding. "I don't know," he muttered, barely loud enough for both of them to hear.

Valerie's eyebrows shot up. "You don't know?" she asked, trying to decipher if he was messing with her or not.

His hand froze midway through his hair. He dropped his hand and let it fall into his lap. "I... I don't remember," he admitted, looking off at the wall awkwardly.

God, it was sad, yeah, but Danny could feel nothing but embarrassment in that moment. How could he not know? How?

"A scientist said I had dissociative amnesia," he admitted, feeling his face heat up. "I could remember things when I got there... but I just started forgetting things and now..." he trailed off, "I really don't remember anything before the program..."

An odd sense of guilt found its way into his chest. How could he not remember the people who loved him in his past life? How could he just forget them?

"That's," Paulina's eyes saddened greatly, "that's really sad."

Danny shrugged with an uneasy smile. "Can't remember what I had to be sad that I don't have it anymore."

"I've never heard of anyone with psychogenic amnesia so extreme," Paulina mumbled. Her eyes sudden;y gleamed with deep thought behind her glasses. "Then again, it is caused be excessive stress and trauma, so maybe..."

A silence settled over them for a few seconds.

"I think I'm more concerned about the science behind making halfas," Valerie spoke up, frowning deeply. "It is mad science, after all. How are you alive?" she asked, fixating her eyes on Danny.

The boy in turn just shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know," he admit truthfully. "They injected me with ectoplasm and then shocked me to hell and back."

Valerie's eyes widened. "They injected you with ectoplasm?"

"Yeah."

"Incredible," Paulina muttered, pressing her hand to her chin in thought, transfixed. "There were so many alternate reactions that could've occurred! The transfusion of ectoplasm to blood should have caused an incompatibility reaction. Or, perhaps, even an antagonistic reaction that would create—"

"Paulie," Valerie interrupted, sighing. She tapped the side of her head in irritation.

"Oh, right, right," she apologized, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "But ectoplasm does have electric properties, so maybe—"

"Paulina."

"Oh, fine," she huffed. She turned to Danny and grinned. "So, I guess you're stuck with us for the time being until we figure something out."

He offered an uneasy smile. "Looks like— ack!" he cried out.

He flailed his arms in surprise, as his lower half turned intangible, and began to sink into the bed. Valerie and Paulina rushed forward, each of them grabbing him by an arm, and pulling him up. Danny sighed in relief when he turned solid again. The two girls gently set him down.

Danny could feel his face turning red. "So, tha-that happened," he stuttered.

Valerie sniggered and Paulina giggled. "This might be a problem, though," the ghost hunter concluded. "How are we gonna keep you hidden if you keep—" She cut off her sentence to make gestures with her hands at him.

"It's not on purpose," he slouched.

"I can't keep him at mi casa," Paulina said, swinging her legs unceremoniously. "Mis abuelos are over for the summer. Mi casa es crowded already."

"You're the one that wanted to keep him," her best friend argued.

"And you have a mansion with plenty of guest bedrooms," she argued, smiling knowing that she had already won the argument.

"I'm a ghost hunter."

"Yep."

"And you're gonna make me watch after a ghost?"

"Yuh-huh. And, uh, half-ghost, technically."

Valerie rubbed her temples at the incoming headache. It was impossible for any of them to process there was a half-ghost in front of them. A halfa hadn't been seen in centuries and suddenly someone was trying to mass produce them?

"Alright," she groaned, dropping her hand from her head.

"Oh, really?" Paulina grinned, somewhat surprised by her easy acceptance. "Nice!"

"Uh, don't you guys have like school or something?" Danny asked.

"Nope!" the latina sang. "Not for two and half more months!"

"Which means we have some time to help you with, uh, whatever it is you need doing," Valerie said, making a dismissive motion with her hands.

Danny glanced down at this hands, which were already itchy from the newly healed skin. He knew what he had to do. He had to find his friends and rescue them if he had to. Most of all though, he had to find a way to stop Masters, Johnson, and Felisha from harming anyone ever again.

Now, how in the hell was he supposed to do all of that?

—-

Danny poked his ramen with his chopsticks. God, he was starving.

"Aren't you guys a bit too eager to help me?" he finally asked the question that had been consuming him all afternoon.

"Well," Paulina said, pausing mid-chew, then swallowed hard. "Valerie here is kinda Amity Park's local superhero," she smiled proudly, glancing over to her friend.

Amity Park. Why did that sound so familiar?

"Really?" Danny asked, his eyes sparkling. He looked up across the table at said girl.

Valerie shuffled uncomfortably. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a superhero."

"Superhero," Paulina sang chirpily.

"That's super cool," Danny grinned.

She laughed nervously, "Thanks."

They finished their meal soon after and Valerie waved over the waitress for the bill.

"So, you really don't remember anything, Danny?" Paulina asked, frowning in sympathy.

"Mostly, yeah," he answered, taking a long sip from his drink. His hand on the glass suddenly turned intangible, spilling water and ice everywhere. Danny groaned at the watery mess on the table, sinking into the seat in exhaustion.

"Excuse me," Paulina said to a nearby waiter. "Can we please get some napkins?"

"Of course, miss."

He returned a few minutes later with a handful of napkins. They all spread the napkins over the table, trying to wipe up the water.

Valerie looked around suspiciously. "No one saw that, right?"

"Maybe eating out with power-malfunctioning halfa might not have been the brightest idea," Danny admitted.

Paulina shrugged. "But you liked the ramen?" she asked.

He nodded, balling up the soaking wet napkin in his hand. "It's the first time I've been to a restaurant." he paused, then smiled. "Well, that I can remember."

"Oh, my god," Valerie moaned, dropping her head. "Please don't joke about that."

"It makes me feel better."

She groaned louder.

He swirled the straw around in his now empty cup. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted—" he glared at the cup, "—I don't remember most things, but I get, like, flashes? Passing memories, I guess. It's pretty weird," he concluded.

"Do you remember the flashes?"

He nodded. "I can remember faces, too, but not their names."

"So, you could identify your family or friends if we ever found them?" Paulina asked, though, the question was closer to a rhetorical one.

He wavered, "I suppose so, yeah."

"That doesn't help us much if Masters picked him up on the other side of the country," Valerie stated, finally paying attention to the receipt in front of her.

"I suppose not," Paulina admitted with a frown. It quickly disappeared, though, when she saw that she wasn't the one paying. She smiled, leaning closer to her friend. "Thank you, Valerie," she crooned, grinning brightly.

"Yeah, yeah," she said in a passive tone, despite the small smile twitching at her lips. She handed the bill with her credit card to the awaiting waitress. "It's not fair if I force you to pay, but not him." She gestured to Danny.

He flushed, clearly embarrassed that he didn't have any money to pay with. "Sorry— I mean, uh, thank you?"

"It's not a problem," she insisted, crossing her arms over the table, and leaning back. "If my house didn't give it away, my parents are kinda loaded."

He frowned slightly. "It still makes me feel bad."

"Better get used to it," she said, sipping her drink. "We're going shopping tomorrow for clothes."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because," Paulina answered, "my brother will notice his clothes are missing soon enough."

Danny raised his arms and the over-sized red shirt spilled everywhere all over his body. "Is your brother a giant?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, dummy. He's latino."

He wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

The waitress quickly returned with the receipt and Valerie's credit card. She set it down on the table gingerly. "Have a nice day, kids."

"You too!" Paulina called after her. She slipped out of of the table booth, dramatically stretching her arms. The other two quickly followed after her.

They pushed open the door to the greetings of the warm summer night. Paulina immediately pulled off her fuzzy sweater and tied it around her waist. Danny could feel the night heat warming his cheeks already.

"Is it hard being a superhero?" he asked, glancing over to Valerie. His big eyes bursted with curiosity and light underneath the street light.

"Oh, yeah," she answered, unlocking her car. "My grades are in the toilet." They pilled into the car with the girls in the front and the ghost boy in the back. "And I probably get about five hours of sleep per day, so..."

"But it is really cool," Paulina added on giddily. "You should see her!"

Valerie smiled softly at her praise, starting up the car. Danny criss-crossed his legs in the backseat. His knees awkwardly sticking out. "Are there a lot of ghosts?" he asked curiously, tilting his head cutely.

She fake-laughed slightly before she dropped her voice. "A lot is an understatement," she said darkly, dramatically glaring at the road.

Paulina turned around to look at him from the passenger seat. "Amity Park is a naturall hot spot for ghosts. There's a bunch of natural portals—"

Valerie groaned. "—And man-made—"

"—There's only one man-made ghost portal."

"Yeah," she said, aggressively turning on her turn signal, "and it's the busiest one."

Paulina turned her head to grin at her. "Good luck convincing the Fenton's to shut down their portal."

Valerie groaned tiredly and Paulina laughed happily at her reaction. Meanwhile, Danny had felt like he had slammed into a wall.

Fenton. Fenton. Where had he headed that name? It was so frustratingly familiarly. It settled into a part of a brain that told him it had been an important name a life time ago. The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't remember. Of course he couldn't.

Danny cursed himself, sinking into the car seat. He mentally filed the name away for later.

They soon arrived at Paulina's house, a suburban house at the edge of town. All of the lights were on, spilling light into the dark front yard.

Paulina pushed the door open and stood up. "Thanks, Val," she smiled. "See you guys tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

They watched her walk up to the front porch, wave, then walk inside. Valerie turned her head to look at Danny. "You can sit in the front, if you want."

Danny felt his face redden a little bit. He moved his hand to unlock his seatbelt. "Oh, uh, okay." He quickly got into the passenger seat. Paulina waved at them one last time through a window, they waved back, and then drove off.

Danny leaned against the side of the car, closing his eyes. He slowly began to feel his seatbelt tighten. He winced as it dug into his chest. His head suddenly hit something. Finally, he looked down and cried out in shock. He was floating above the seat, with his head pressed up against the roof of the car.

"Um, Valerie?" he squeaked.

"Yeah, Danny."

"Uh, help?"

"I'm driving."

"Yeah, well, I'm floating uncontrollably," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. His back floated up to and pressed against the car roof.

Valerie quickly took a left turn and pulled over on the side of the road. She glanced to where Danny was supposed to be and then looked up to where he was. Her eyes widened. "What are you doing?" she asked incredulously.

He waved his arms, "I can't control it!"

"I don't know. I don't have ghost powers," she spluttered, clearly alarmed now that Danny's whole body was against the car roof.

"Neither did I!"

"I don't know!" she shouted, "Just think about it!"

"HOW DOES THAT WORK?"

"I DON'T KNOW. THEY'RE YOUR POWERS."

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to concentrate. Stop floating. Stop floating.

He suddenly dropped and collided crudely with the insides of the car. He struggled to sit up. "Ow," he groaned, unclicking his seat belt to untangle his limbs from it.

"Smooth," she commented, smirking. He glowered back at her, sitting back into his seat.

They eventually arrived at Valerie's house, a large brick apartment in a large neighborhood with other large, expensive, and lavish apartments.

He looked up at the fancy houses, then turned away and made a face. "I feel too poor to even look at this neighborhood."

She laughed at that, pulling into the garage, then parking. They pilled out of the car and she glanced to one of the many cars in the giant garage. "My parents are home," she said. "Turn invisible and walk towards the bedrooms. I'll meet you there."

He watched her slip through the garage door. "Easy for you to say," he grunted. He squished his eyes closed and tried to focus. A cool feeling washed over his body, and when he looked down, he could only see a very faint outline of his line, one he was sure all he could see. Danny quickly followed after Valerie, walking towards the direction of voices.

"Hello, pumpkin," a woman's voice greeted warmly. "How was your day?"

"It was fine. Paulina came over again today."

Danny quickly rushed past the direction of the noses to the staircase. Sure, he was invisible, but he didn't trust his control over his powers enough to hang around. Speaking of control, he could start to feel it slip as he ascended the stairs. He looked down at his hands, his body flashing in and out of sight. The sensation clawed at him desperately to stay, dragging away every remaining ounce of energy he had. Just as he reached the top of the stairs, his invisibility completely slipped. Danny quickly ducked behind a pillar overlooking the guard rail.

Valerie's voice carried over through the lavish house. "Paulina and I have a bunch of stuff in the spare bedroom across from my room. Could you, ah, not touch it for a while?"

"Of course, Ms. Gray," a butler's deep voice replied.

Danny slumped against the pillar, exhausted. These powers were gonna take some getting used to.

"I'm headin' to bed."

"Alright, Valerie. Love you and good night."

"Love you, honey. Good night."

"Night."

Footsteps loomed closer, walking closer towards his direction and then up the stairs. They paused a few feet nearby.

"What are you doing?" Valerie asked, placing one hand on her hip. She raised an eyebrow at the boy slumped against the pillar.

He exhaled a deep breath. "You try controlling constant focus all the time," he whined tiredly. Valerie moved closer to him and offered her hands. He accepted and she pulled him to his feet. "Thanks," he said, trying not to fall over.

His eyelids were growing heavier by the second. Wow, he was really tired.

Danny glanced in the direction of Valerie's parents and then back at her. "You're not gonna talk to your parents longer?"

"Nah." She suppressed a yawn, starting her walk down the long hallway of bedrooms. "They're busy and it's a weeknight." He could tell she wanted to say more, but she never did.

Danny trailed after her with slumped shoulders and bleary eyes. They finally reached the two final bedrooms at the end of the hall.

Valerie paused. Her hand resting on her door. She turned to Danny. "Don't leave your bedroom. Maids and butlers are all over the placement, got it?"

He yawned, frowning, and rubbing his eyes with the side of his hands. "Mhm." He lazily twisted the door knob and pushed the door open. "Night, Val."

She paused for a long second, before she muttered, "Night," and disappeared behind her door.

Danny tiredly hummed to himself, quietly closing the door. He could tell Valerie wasn't too happy to have a complete stranger in her house. Her very big and expensive house. Yeah, he understood that. He wasn't exactly too pumped to be staying with a ghost hunter either, though. He'd much rather be staying with Paulina. They're stuck together, though, until he could figure something out. Hopefully they'll start warming up to each other.

With a tired sigh, Danny kicked off the flip flops Paulina had loaned him and trudged towards the bed in the darkness. He fell on top of it, quickly wrapping his whole body into a cocoon of soft blankets. A bath later would be nice, but for now, sleep would be more than enough.

—-

A/N: Im not really proud of this chapter, but it´s alright. My keyboard is suddenly fucked up so,,, very highly inconvenient. Valerie and Paulina are meant to be ooc, it is set in a very different reality after all. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them! Thank you to all of the commenters and readers!


	4. Chapter 4

Danny woke up with a jolt, panting heavily and coated in sweat. His eyes swam over the complete darkness of the room before his eyes flicked to the bright numbers of the alarm clock.

3:45am.

What was that shaking? That was him. He was shaking.

Danny kicked off the blankets and nearly fell out of the bed in the process. Earlier that night, the blankets had been comforting. A warm hug swaddling and luring him into sleep. Now, they felt like a prison confining him.

The words from that dream that had already awoken him more than once that night still echoed through his mind.

_I made you better._

He slipped off the bed, stumbling through the darkness towards the direction of the attached bathroom. Danny felt around with his hands in the darkness, until his hands connected with what felt like a door. He pushed it open and felt around for the light switch. The room was suddenly engulfed with bright light. The sudden loss of darkness made his eyes see stars.

Danny moaned, rubbing his eyes, which quickly refocused. When his eyes had returned to normal, he let out a loud sigh and began to strip. He stood in the cold of the bathroom for a few minutes trying to get the shower controls right. He eventually gave up and stepped into the shower, which was still a bit too cold for his liking.

He closed his eyes, letting the water pour down his body. The rough feeling of the gauze and bandages reminded him of the injuries below him. He forced his eyes open, slowly pulling off each of the bandages. He placed the used band-aids on the side of the shower to throw away later and then looked down at his skin. He stared in silent awe, gently tracing the now smooth skin with the rough pads of his finger tips. His whole body was completely healed. There wasn't a burn or scab in sight. Even some of the old scars he had had before the program were faded greatly. The only evidence that he had been through what he had was the long and wild scar that stretched from his hands to his feet, carving into his chest and back, then twisting around his waist and then down his legs. It looked like a lightning scar, but that made no sense, really. He had suffered from electrical burns. How—?

His hand blinked out of existence for a few seconds and he was reminded that logic didn't really apply these days.

Danny sighed, turning the controls of the shower to make the water warmer. He couldn't even remember a whole lot from when he had been in school, but he was absolutely sure pumping ectoplasm into someone and then shocking them to near death would not create the effect that it had on. What did that make him, then? A science freak? A lab rat? Or was this some weird, fucked up sense of destiny?

Halfas were destiny, everyone knew that. They were legendary heroes with spiritual ties to the dead. They led rebellions and overthrew tyrants. They were symbols of hope in dark times and the faces of revolutions.

What did that make him? A false halfa? He was created in a lab, not chosen. He had no army to lead. No people to defend. No vendetta to fulfill but his own. Or was there something more waiting in store?

The thoughts made him sick to his stomach. What had his life become?

He tried to remember happy times in his life, but the struggle came up short. Images of his friends, those remaining and those passed, flashed through his eyes. Friends he had abandoned in his own fear-riddled mind. He had abandoned Natalie. He had barely even tried looking for her.

Danny wrapped his arms around himself and clutched his shoulders, shaking. Annoying Ben who he had competed with until they were both exhausted to the bone, who treated him and thought of him like a little brother. Charming Riley who had patted his hair and put a smile on his face when nothing else could, who spent hours upon hours telling him about the beauties of the outside world with stars in his eyes. Sweet Natalie who had been nothing but kind to him, who had comforted him when he had first arrived in the program, and who had let him cry on her shoulder when he had needed one.

And he left them. He ran away. He was scared and he couldn't think about anything but his own escape.

At some point, his tears had begun to mix with the warm bath water. Danny reached out for the shampoo. It was a set with a conditioner. They were both fruity smelling mixes made for black hair that he wasn't too sure how well it would work with his dark and thick Japanese hair.

It was his mother's hair, he could remember. His father had been a white American and she had been the granddaughter of two Japanese immigrants.

Familiar and warm smiles glowed in front of his eyes. Despite the sadness that he couldn't remember who was behind them, the memory of his parents' laughter made a small warmth blossom in his chest.

Danny quickly went through shampooing his hair and then applying conditioner and washing it out. He had half the mind to reach for the flower smelling body wash and a wash cloth. He mumbled to himself something about his misfortune of having to smell like flowers.

Danny turned off the shower, stepped out, and quickly dried himself off with a towel. He felt less gross, less dirty. A little better.

He wrapped the towel around himself and kicked his dirty clothes to the side. He walked out of the bathroom, then squinted in the sudden darkness of the bedroom. With only the light of the alarm clock and the soft light streaming in through the window, he approached the bed slowly, reaching out for the bed light. It flicked on, exposing the room with just enough light to be able to see around the room well.

He walked over to the dresser where Paulina had loaned him some of her brother's clothes. She had only brought him two pairs and he had completely soaked the first pair with sweat. A worn out blue t-shirt with a random camping logo, a pair of basketball shorts, and a pair of boxers laid strewed out across the dresser. The thought of wearing someone else's underwear made him flush in embarrassment, but his only other choice was going commando and he was definitely not doing that.

Danny quickly changed into the new set of clothes, patting his hair dry with the towel. He glanced at the clock. 4:53. Almost 5 am. Valerie's parents would start getting up and leaving soon.

He crawled into the bed, staring at the pillows. A wave of sadness washed over him. He missed Riley. Riley used to let him climb into his bed when he felt bad or had a bad dream. He would stroke his hair and fill the silence with his beating heart. Danny could only hope that he was okay.

Instead of sleeping, Danny opted to play the DS that had been discarded on the nightstand from when Paulina and Valerie had been watching over him. It was one of the much older versions, it wasn't even a 3Ds. It was a bright pink and battered around the edges. He figured it was Paulina's and not Valerie's since the latina seemed to be a bit infatuated with the color.

He flicked the DS on and the screen glowed to life. The screens told him that the game inserted in the back was Super Mario. And apparently, Paulina was pretty bad at the game. He spent a few more minutes messing with the controls before he started to play.

He was so immersed into the game that he didn't hear Valerie's parents shuffling around at the other end of the hallway or Valerie knocking on the bedroom door.

After no response and quite a few knocks, she busted in. "Rise and shine, spook," she greeted, stepping into the room, and closing the door behind her.

Danny blinked rapidly, looking up at her in surprise, before he turned his face back down onto the DS. "What are you doing up? It's like, uh..." he scrunched his nose up, trying to recall the time from the last time he glanced at the clock. "5 am?"

Valerie placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "It's 8:30."

"It hasn't been that long!" he cried out, a slight wine to his voice. The DS in his beeped at him to tell him that yes, it has been that long.

He fell out of the bed looking for the charger.

He finally noticed the plate in one of her hands. Danny looked up at her curiously as he plugged the DS into its charger. "What's that?"

Valerie walked closer so he could see the contents of the plate. Scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. "Breakfast."

He refocused his attention on his game, muttering to himself. "I hate toast."

She picked up the toast from his plate and bit into it. "Well, then," she said, chewing on the bread, "you're just weird."

He shrugged. Valerie slowly walked closer, placing the plate down on the floor next to him with a napkin and a fork. Her eyes locked onto the scars on his arms.

"You're healed," she breathed out, startled.

He smiled wearily up at her. "Crazy, huh?"

She nodded a little dumbly. "Paulina's gonna go berserk."

He forced a smile at the comment. She turned her back to him and began to walk out the room. Danny perked up, looking up at the game. "Valerie," he called out. Her hand resting on the doorknob. She turned in his direction. "Thank you," he said, flushing slightly.

A small smile twitched on her lips. She nodded, facing back to the door. "You're welcome."

Danny slowly ate his breakfast as he played his game. When suddenly, the bedroom door swung open and slammed into the wall. He looked up mid-chew, startled. Paulina rushed over to where he was sitting on the floor. "Ooh! You found my DS!" she smiled. He nodded and she took a piece of his bacon.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

She smiled. "Val picked me up."

"Yup," Valerie said, appearing in the doorway. "You done? I need to take the plate down." He nodded, handing her the plate and she disappeared through the doorway with it.

Paulina tugged her attention away from the door to the boy in front of her. She grabbed his arm suddenly and didn't let go despite his yelp of surprise. "Amazing," she muttered to herself, studying the scar that travelled up his arm. "Looks like a litchenberg figure." She looked up at him. "When did you take your band-aids off?"

"Uh..." he trailed off wearily, "Maybe, like, 4am?"

"4am..." she mumbled softly, dropping his left arm to examine the right arm. "Flex your fingers," she ordered. He did so. "Woah," she gasped, completely star struck. Her eyes were gleaming brightly behind her glasses. "Your healing is impeccable. We knew that before, but not to this extent. Your injuries should have left you unconscious for weeks and working to recover for maybe even years," she rattled on. "The healing technology that could be capable—"

Danny smiled to himself at the comment. He didn't like being put under a microscope and examined, but Paulina wasn't like the scientists at the program. Her love for science was curiosity for knowledge, not a curiosity made out of the pain of others... She wanted to know and learn more to wonder about ethical inventions inspired by it to help the world. So, really, as long as she didn't rattle on about him becoming the second Frankenstein's monster, he was fine.

After a few more minutes of ranting about his increased process of mitosis and if it could possibly cause cancer, Paulina seemed to be finished wondering out loud. She dropped his arm, stretched slowly, and then leaned against the bed post. "Sorry," she apologized. "I get carried away sometimes. Did you sleep well?" she asked, suddenly standing up on her feet.

"Could have been better," he admitted, unplugging the DS, and standing up. "I got up at like 4am and then just stayed up."

"Have you been playing the whole time?"

"Yep," he grinned mischievously. "I've almost completed the game."

"What?" she shouted, "I've been trying to play it for months!"

He playfully stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same in turn. "Alright, kids," Valerie spoke up, leaning on the door frame. She rattled her car keys that had a cartoon ghost keychain attached. "Let's go."

Danny and Paulina quickly followed Valerie around the house towards the garage. Luckily, they didn't run into anybody, so he didn't have to struggle to become invisible again. The three piled into the car, then drove off.

"Haha!" Danny suddenly cried out in success in the backseat. He waved the DS around, smiling brightly. He poked Paulina in the shoulder and she turned around to face him. "I finished the game!"

"Good job," she said with a smile, "but also, no fair!" she whined. "How can you just complete it in one morning?"

His chest swelled pridefully. He grinned, "I have talent."

"You. Are. Evil." she declared, playfully narrowing her eyes.

Danny quickly fell into a bantering mood. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Paulina huffed at him, but there was a clear smile on her face. Danny himself was also smiling softly. It was always nice to have friends.

After a few more minutes, Valerie finally pulled into a large parking lot in front of ginormous building. Danny placed the DS on the backseat and stepped out of the car, staring up at the giant building with wide eyes. Why did this place feel so familiar?

"This place is huge," he voiced, gazing out at the many rows of cars.

"Amity Park is a big city," Paulina supplied.

"Kinda looks like concrete central," he commented, eying the large building up and down. Really, though, it was huge.

"The theme is global warming," Valerie joked blankly, slamming the front door shut.

Danny scrunched his nose up. "What's global warming?"

"Please tell me you're joking."

He fell silent.

Paulina seemed to find the whole situation hilarious. She was shaking so hard that her glasses were almost about to fall off. She wheezed once then continued down into her fit of laughter. Valerie sighed loudly, smiling fondly down at her friend, before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her towards the mall entrance. Danny quickly followed after them.

The mall was large, or maybe Danny's world was just small. It was two floors and stretched widely. What caught his attention, though, were all the many people.

He swallowed roughly. "Are there usually this many people?" he asked, weakly gesturing to large crowd.

Paulina looked between the people and then the ghost boy and blinked. "It's actually pretty empty."

He paled a little bit. "Eh?"

Okay, so maybe he's just never really been in a big crowd, because you know, lost memories and years in the program with a small handful of people—

A little girl stopped in her tracks, tugging at her mother's dress. "Mama, look at his scars!" She pointed to Danny.

The mother flushed with second hand embarrassment. "Sweetheart, it's rude to point," she scolded, tugging her daughter by the hand along the flow of people.

Danny looked down at himself. The lightning-like scars were visible on both his legs and arms. He frowned anxiously, pulling on the ends of his shorts as if it would help cover them up.

"I think your scars look cool, Danny," Paulina offered with a small reassuring smile.

"I don't," he muttered, rushing ahead of the girls to a nearby store.

The incident made him body conscious. He made sure to buy cheap jeans and jackets. Paulina and Valerie both told him his outfits would be too hot in the summer weather, but he brushed them off. He didn't like the scars, their appearance, or their origin. At the end of the day, he'd just rather pretend like they didn't exist.

—

Paulina held up a pair of boxers with the words 'suck it' in bright red on the front. She looked at Danny. "Thoughts?"

The dark-haired boy nodded very seriously despite standing in front of a wall of dildos. "Very straight forward."

Like all teenagers when let loose, despite their original objective to buy Danny clothes, after a few hours, they had ended up in the back of Spencer's, gawking and giggling at all the silly sex-themed products.

Valerie glanced at one of the story workers, who was eying them suspiciously, then turned back to her friends. She held up a bag of chewy candy that looked like boobs. Paulina cackled even though she didn't say anything yet.

"Sh! Sh! Look!" Danny hushed, whispering. He turned towards the lingerie direction where a middle-aged lady was staring at the products. They all scrambled closer together, giggling loudly.

"Hey, can I see your IDs?" a deep female voice boomed behind them. They all jumped, startled. The store worker stared down at them with disapproval.

"Well, you see, uh," Danny began than ended just as quickly.

"—We were just, um, uh..." Paulina trailed off, laughing nervously.

Valerie looked around in alarm at being caught and being their last line of defense. "—Wewerejustleaving—BYE!" she shouted out all in one breath, grabbing ahold of the other two, and bolting.

The three stumbled out of the store in a heap of near hysterical laughter, tripping over their own feet and coughing on their own laughter. As they stumbled away like a small pack of excited puppies, a device amongst them beeped shrilly. Valerie's wide smile quickly fell. She started to mess with one of the two identical, red metal bands on each of her wrists.

Paulina quickly noticed her change of demeanor. She whined, clinging onto her arm. "Oh, c'mon, Val—"

Valerie's gaze turned determined. "You know I can't ignore it."

Danny wheezed, forcing himself to stop laughing. He clutched onto his chest, the shopping bags around his wrists swinging as he did so. "What's going on?" he asked innocently.

The dark-haired boy froze, suddenly engulfed by a freezing cold. He shivered, rubbing his arms, as his body was consumed in goose bumps. He gasped, a soft blue wisp flying out of his mouth. As it slowly faded into the air, the warm summer heat returned.

Danny blinked owlishly, glancing around to see if anyone had similar reactions. "Uh, did anyone else feel that?"

Paulina drew her attention away from Valerie's metal bands. "Feel what?"

"We should go," Valerie spoke up.

The boy frowned, rubbing his arms absentmindedly as the goose bumps faded. "Why?"

Paulina scowled slightly, clearly annoyed. "There's a ghost."

He reeled backwards in surprise, "A wha—"

Almost as if on cue, a gigantic form phased through the ceiling, crashing into the mall floor. The impact shook the whole building, sending the three teenagers flying to the floor. Valerie dropped into a roll as she fell, then jumped to her feet with incredible grace. Meanwhile, Paulina and Danny slammed unkindly into the floor, harshly hitting their heads and chins on the tile.

Screams erupted from every direction. The mall floor became an ocean as people tried to push their way to the exits. Valerie grabbed the other two by their collars and dragged them behind a gigantic potted plant. Paulina slumped to the floor, rubbing her chin with a large pout. Danny squeezed his shopping bags close to his chest so that they wouldn't be trampled.

The humongous thirty foot snake hissed, crashing its tail into shop windows, and sending glass flying everywhere. A piece of glass flew past Danny's face, scratching him on the cheek.

He clutched his cheek in his palm, his head suddenly erupting in a headache, as he felt the warm liquid trickle down his fingers. Screams were flooding his ears and echoing painfully around his brain. He cried out, pressing his hands to his ears.

He was so distracted that he barely saw Valerie's transformation. Small red pieces of metal shot out from her twin bands and her backpack, spreading all over her body. The metal locked into place around her form with a series of soft clicks. The suit covered around her head, leaving nothing of her face to see but the darkened visor. She jumped to the air, the red metal rushing forward to form a hover board at her feet. She pressed her foot into and she shot off towards the monster snake with a blast.

"Hey, hey," Paulina said, trying to get his attention. Her hands hovered over his arms trying to decide if it was a good idea to touch him in this state. "Danny, breathe. It's okay."

It most certainly did not feel okay.

The screams of the crowd had faded away, but they were replaced in his mind with the memory of his own. His chest fell up and down with harsh short breaths. Tears springed at his eyes. The memory of bright electricity flickered in front of his eyes.

An ecto-gun hummed in the distance and he squeezed his eyes tighter. He was running through the woods again. Where was he going? Where were his friends?

"Danny, breathe," Paulina whispered softly. "You're not there anymore, okay? You're here. You're here with Valerie and I. There's nothing to worry about."

Seconds that felt like minutes past before he forced his eyes open, breathing shakily. He stared down at the floor, his eyes bleary with tears.

"Can I touch you?"

He paused and nodded softly.

Paulina moved closer, pulled the shopping bags off his arms, and enveloped him in a warm hug. He breathed out shakily, pressing his chin into her shoulder. She rubbed small circles into his back. The small gesture reminded him of Natalie. He smiled softly, tears continuing to slip down his cheeks.

Close by, an ecto-gun fired off several times in a row, followed by a loud animalistic hiss.

"You good?" she asked. He nodded softly. She pulled back from the hug slowly, sitting down on the floor next to him.

He exhaled roughly, shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to slow down the tears. He missed Riley. Riley would've stroked his hair and whispered sweat nothings into his ears. God, he missed him.

Danny looked up hesitantly and was immediately awe struck. Valerie's suit rushed forward to form a large gun at her wrist. She shot it and taser ends shot out, shocking the gigantic purple snake. It screeched, hissing loudly at her.

He winced at the display of electricity, but continued to watch.

"That's a ghost?" he asked softly.

Paulina nodded, eyes fixated on the huntress in front of them. "They're usually not this big, though."

"I thought ghost attacks were rare?"

"Most places. Amity Park isn't most places."

Danny turned back his attention to the fight. The snake spun around, swinging its tail at Valerie. She easily swerved out of the way, zooming towards it, and punching it in the face. As she did so, she released an ecto-blast from her gun. The snake screeched loudly, smashing into the ground. The tile cracked underneath it.

"See you never, spook," she commented, tapping at the wrist of her suit. It twisted into what looked like a funnel made for cooking. With a whirl of power, the funnel powered up, sucking the ghost up. The snake tried to push further away down the hall, but was sucked up into the vortex with a loud wail. The funnel beeped once at its success, then folded itself back into her suit.

Paulina immediately jumped out from behind the large flower pot. She waved her arms around wildly and shouted, "Woo! Red Huntress!"

A few people holding up their phones cheered, waving at the huntress. Valerie saluted in their direction, then flew off.

—-

Danny and Paulina waited for Valerie outside with a crowd, who were waiting for the all clear to go back inside. The African-American appeared next to them, shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

Danny glanced down at her twin bands, then up at her, and grinned. "Dope," he commented.

Paulina nodded in agreement. "Very dope," she emphasized. The two girls smiled softly at each other.

"Okay but," Danny interjected and the two turned to him curiously, "'See you never, spook'? Seriously?" he asked, clearly unimpressed. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the exterior of the mall. "You couldn't come up with anything I don't know... more quippy?"

Valerie stared back blankly at him. "I'm a ghost hunter, not Spider-Man," she replied sternly.

"Is spook your favorite word?" he asked in a deadpan voice.

"Right next to victory."

He blinked at her, then leaned in to talk softer to Paulina. "I can't tell if she's joking."

"Yeah, neither can I."

Mall security gave them the all clear to return the building and the people flooded in. The three teenagers stepped out from the burning sun to underneath the shade, but still outside away from the crowd.

"I've been meaning to ask," Danny began, sitting cross-legged on the now empty bench. "Where did you get your suit?"

"Technus, this technology ghost, kinda possessed me or something," she muttered. "I had, like, a really sucky suit and board before that, but—"

He raised an eyebrow. "So, you hunt ghosts... with ghost tech?"

She glared at him briefly as she tried to come back with something to say. When she couldn't think of anything, she just scowled, grunted and muttered, "Yes."

Danny grinned at the small smile, but it quickly disappeared when a cold tingly sensation encompassed his body. He looked down to see his body slowly sinking into the bench. With a startled yelp, he jumped to his feet. Only to sink into the floor like it were quick sand. He forced his arms to turn tangible for the other two to pull him out of the ground. Valerie and Paulina grabbed him by his arms and held up his thin frame. They all watched as his whole body faded back to solidity. They let him go and he collapsed back onto the bench on his back.

"I'm actually impressed," Valerie commented. "That's only, like, the sixth time that's happened today."

He whined, the hard wood of the bench pressing into the back of his head. "Thank God no one saw."

"Actually," Paulina interrupted, her voice full of weary, "he did." She pointed to a red-headed teenage boy their age staring at them owlishly. He gawked, his eyes as wide as saucers behind his thick glasses.

Danny swallowed thickly, forcing his body into a fetal position. He moaned, "I am so dead."

"Oh, it's just Mikey," Valerie said. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted loudly, "MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS, MIKEY."

The boy squeaked, diving behind a car. Valerie turned back to her friends with a satisfied smile on her face and a hand on her hip.

"He won't tell anyone," she stated confidently.

"Yeah?" Danny moaned sarcastically, burying his head in his hands, and trying to stop his head from spinning so rapidly. "How do you know that?"

"It's three against one," she answered, her eyes still shining with confidence. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just another 16 year old kid."

He smiled.

—-

A/N: I'm kinda "meh"-ish about this chapter, to be honest? I thought it was pretty good when I was writing it, but I'm not so sure, now... so... hhhh... I'm aware that changing Danny's canoncial ethnicity is controversial, but I honestly just wanted more Asian representation, since the og show had so little. Of course it won't be a major theme, but it's just a small detail that I wanted to add. Also, if it seems like I'm trying to pair Danny with Paulina or Valerie, I'm not. I'm struggling to write them as awkward teenagers who are trying to warm up to each other quickly. This au Paulina is very touchy in general, but her intentionally flirting with Danny just isn't the case! I just can't write, lol :(. I don't really know what else to say I'm sorry fshhah. Anyway, thank you to all the readers and commenters and everyone else!


	5. Chapter 5

In all honesty, it was probably some type of god-send miracle that Vlad hadn't murdered him on the spot.

Johnson was in a world of trouble. Not only had he out-right told Vlad that halfas were impossible and had been proven brutally wrong, but he had also failed to notice the subjects conspiring and had let the only half-ghost that had been successfully created escape. All underneath his watch!

After Masters had spent a good several hours yelling at him, he promoted Felisha to head scientist and demoted him to a spot barely above a janitor. Oh, how the world was cruel! Not only was he proven wrong, but his life's dream was ripped away from his hands just as he got near it!

Felisha, oblivious as always, skipped towards his new desk, beaming brightly. She didn't even give his new tiny desk a glance. She excitedly pointed to the new badge on her lab coat, "Look, Johnson! Isn't it crazy?"

"That your head scientist?" he asked, seething. The pencil in his hand snapped in half. He scowled darkly, turning over his hand, and letting the remains rain down on his desk. "Indeed."

Felisha, unaware of his clear anger, plopped down unprofessionally on his desk. She swung her legs over the table, humming happily. "Dr. Masters wants trackers implemented in the remaining subjects," she said. "Did you order them?"

He glanced down at the note pad of supplies that it was now his job to order. He grabbed another pencil from his cup and wrote it down. "Yes," he lied, writing down the objects with so much force that the lead on his pencil snapped. With a sigh, his shoulders slumped, and he flicked the pencil to the other side of his desk. "Have you found any traces of the half-ghost?"

Felisha's cheery demeanor flickered, but it quickly returned to normal. "No," she admitted. "Searches in the forest have turned up nothing."

"He escaped into Amity?"

"Probably," she hummed, thoughtfully swinging her legs. "Teams are being dispatched tomorrow to search the city."

Johnson's fingers twitched against his will. Dispatching teams into the city was dangerous. It would put their whole operation at risk. They could easily be found out in days. Decades of hard work and research would be shut down in seconds. Masters must be out of his mind.

But speak of the Devil and he shall appear.

"Hello, doctors," a cold voice greeted, its owner suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Hello, Dr. Masters!" Felisha chirpily greeted.

Vlad nodded curtly at her, then turned to Johnson. His hands were folded behind his back and a cruel smile found its way onto his face. "How is the new job serving you, _Doctor_?" he asked, placing special emphasis on the word 'doctor'.

Johnson glowered silently. It was an insult to have a PhD and be reduced to a desk job for a high school graduate. Vlad knew more than well how to push his buttons, but he wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing it was working.

He forced a smile, looking up at his boss. "Excellent, sir. I'm more than happy that Felisha is stepping up as head scientist."

Felisha beamed, oblivious to his lie and his faux support. Vlad's devious smile only widened further. His eyes gleamed darker, as if he could see right through him. Johnson involuntarily shuddered.

"Yes," Masters hummed thoughtfully, letting his cruel smile drop, "as do I." He turned to his new chief scientist and smiled. "Now, come, Ms. Felisha, we have important business to intend to," he stated. Without even a second glance at Johnson, he strode towards the elevator. Felisha trotting behind him like a lost puppy. She glanced back at her colleague and waved goodbye.

He broke another pencil.

Scowling, he let the pencil remains rain down onto his desk for the second time He glared at their backs as they left. How dare they. Both of them! He would get revenge on them, even if it was the last thing he did.

—

It was surprisingly easy for the three of them to fall into a friendship. Paulina, Valerie, and Danny crowded around the floor of Danny's bedroom like old friends. Valerie was strewn across Paulina's lap and Danny was laying on his side at their feet, propping his head up with his hand, as he shoved popcorn into his mouth with the other. The three teenagers all stared up intently at the large TV.

Paulina had arrived earlier that day on Valerie's doorstep with an armful of DVDs and demanded that they watched them. Valerie easily agreed upon seeing the movies she had picked out. The two of them were superhero geeks and they couldn't be having a friend who had the powers of one but knew absolutely nothing about them.

"Bucky is hot," Danny concluded, shoving another handful of popcorn into his mouth. He'd been staring at the TV screen so long that his eyes were beginning to hurt.

"You said that about Loki too," Valerie spoke up calmly, letting Paulina play with her hair. "Do you have a thing for scary serial killers?"

The latina giggled. The boy froze mid-chew. "Nooo," he lied.

"What about Natasha?" Paulina asked.

He continued to chew, swallowed, and then spoke. "My wife," was all he offered before resuming to consume his fourth bowl of popcorn.

Paulina and Valerie nodded in solemn agreement. "Your mind."

"Wait," the latina said, "what about Steve Rogers? You're leaving America's ass out of this?"

Valerie sniggered at the reference, but it flew completely over Danny's head. "What ass?" he asked. Paulina squawked in protest and Valerie reached out and smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow," he whined.

"It's what you get," she grunted.

"I'm gay and even I love Chris Evans," Paulina whined, throwing an empty wrapper at the boy.

He turned to her and blinked. "You are?"

"I thought it was obvious."

He squished his face up in thought. Paulina did seem oddly infatuated with boob jokes.

Valerie laughed at his face, turning her head slightly in the other girl's lap.

The black girl's metal bands beeped shrilly at her. Paulina groaned, dropping the locks of Valerie's hair in her hands, and reaching for the remote control. She paused the movie and whined. "Yeah, yeah, just go."

She sat up, smiling sympathetically at her. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'll be back soon," she promised, standing up, and grabbing her discarded backpack.

Her backpack hummed, small pieces of red metal shooting out from it and her bracelets. The metal folded around her body into a suit, clicking into place. Her helmet formed around her head with a final click. "See you in a minute," she said, jumping into the air. Her suit's tech rushed forward to quickly form her hover board. She pushed open a window and zipped out.

Danny gawked at where she had flown out, then turned back to Paulina. "That's awesome."

"Yeah," she sighed, "it is."

He frowned, tilting his head cutely. "What's wrong?" he asked. Paulina sighed heavily again, spreading her arms, and flopping onto the ground. "Do you not like Valerie being a, y'know, superhero—"

"No, that's not it," she said. "I think it's super awesome— because it is!— and I know she secretly loves it, but like, she's always running off to fight ghosts and it... just kinda sucks," she admitted, a guilty tone slipping into her voice. "She's great at the whole ghost fighting thing, but she is just human, y'know?"

He blinked down at her, a little taken back by her sudden monologue. "Yeah, I do," he told her. A spark went off in his mind and he smiled. Danny reached out to Paulina and poked her arm.

"Hm?"

"I could help Valerie fight ghosts."

She squinted, "Huh?"

"I'm a halfa, right? That's what we're supposed to do," he began. "Help people."

"That's a nice sentiment," she admitted, smiling, then whined, "but then I'd be worried about you too!"

Danny put his hand over his heart. "You? Worried? About little old me?" he gasped, grinning widely.

She laughed at his antics, sitting back up, and reaching for the TV remote. She turned the channel to the news. The TV. blared loudly and she quickly turned the volume down. Danny scooted closer to the screen.

"Welcome to Channel 4 Breaking News! Wishing he had majored in nursing, I'm Lance Thunder."

Danny laughed. "The town isn't that bad, is it?"

The latina looked away from him. "Uh..."

A loud noise from the TV redirected their attention to it. Lance Thunder, a blond news castor, sat next to the window of a helicopter. The camera changed from him to the current ghost fight. Valerie was engaged mid-air with a blue-skinned ghost girl. She was dressed like a punk, with tattoos traveling up and down her arms. Her flaming blue hair licked at the sky and her fingers danced around the strums of her guitar.

"As you can see," Lance's voiceover said, "Amity Park's favorite ghost hunting hero, the Red Huntress, is currently engaged in an afternoon battle with the notorious guitarist ghost Ember."

"Aren't they a little too close?" Danny asked, frowning, watching how close the helicopter was to the ghost fight.

"Yeah, they're a bit of a pain for Val. They're always getting in the way."

The ghost, Ember, grinned slyly, strumming a few keys. "Well, if it isn't little Red Riding Hood."

"Well, if it isn't Guitar Hero," she remarked back.

Ember threw her head back and laughed. "You're gonna have to get way better at those come backs, baby pop." She tugged on a chord and a giant blue fist shot out from her guitar. Valerie narrowly flew out of the way. The helicopter flew closer.

The huntress raised her arm and the ecto-gun at her wrist hummed into life. It shot a large blast, but the ghost flew out of the way. Ember shot threw the air towards Valerie, swinging her guitar down at her. Valerie blocked it with her arm. The two grunted as they engaged in badly. Suddenly, Ember swung her feet up and smashed them into the other's stomach. The impact sent Valerie flying through the air, but she quickly caught herself.

The helicopter flew even closer.

Valerie shot another round of blasts. Ember flew through all of them. A net suddenly shot out of her gun. Taken by surprise, Ember was entangled inside, crashing to the ground in the net. She tumbled around for a few seconds, hissing. Her guitar barely out of reach.

The helicopter flew closer and its side door flew open. Lance threw his head out of the window and shouted into his mic. "And it seems as if the Red Huntress has won!"

Ember sneered. "As if," she snarled, breaking free of the net. She stretched for dramatic effect, smirking devilishly, as her guitar flew into her open palm. She played a few chords and a giant blue wave shot out, heading straight for the helicopter. Valerie flew into her with her hover board, slamming her into the ground, and effectively knocking the blue wave out of its intended corse.

"You. Are. So. Annoying." Ember snarled, phasing through the ground to reappear in front of her.

"You talk too much."

Ember sneered, strumming the first several seconds of a song. On the final note, a giant blue fist exploded from her guitar. Valerie easily flew out of the way.

"You missed."

Her lips twitched with a smirk. "Did I?"

The huntress immediately turned around. The helicopter narrowly missed the blast. Before she could react again, Ember turned a dial on her guitar and played again. A green-like sound wave rushed forward.

Paulina's eyes widened. "Cover your ears!"

Danny blinked, "What?"

She pressed her fingers into her ears and he quickly did the same.

The green wave was absorbed the camera and the microphone underneath the helicopter, then sent right back out. This time, ten times larger, spreading as far as the eye could see.

Though he had his ears covered, he could still vaguely hear the ghostly sound wave. A woman's soft voice lulled to his ears dreamily, but it slowly faded into nonexistence. He didn't even realize he had closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, Paulina poked him, "Danny?"

He cracked an eye open and let his hands drop from his ears. The TV had gone static and was admitting an awful noise.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted, frowning. "Definitely not good." Her phone beeped next to her and she briefly glanced at it. "Val's on her way back."

Danny was suddenly growing weary. "What's—"

A loud crash echoed down the hall and the two immediately tensed. "Ember~" voices called out.

The ghost boy swallowed. "Well, that's definitely not creepy."

Paulina jumped to her feet, sticking her phone in her pocket. "That's our cue to leave."

Danny quickly stood up and followed her to the door. She pushed it open, squeaked, and fell backwards onto her butt. Four people dressed as maids and butlers climbed through the door, their shoulders slacking, and their eyes glowing a bright, pupil-less, neon blue.

"Ember~" they groaned out in unison, stepping forward.

"Why do they always imitate zombies?" she complained.

"Paulina!" he shouted as one of them reached to grab her.

"Hey, hands off!" she shouted, ripping her arm from the mind-controlled butler's grasp. She smashed her fist into his face. The butler groaned, stumbling backwards. Paulina whined, shaking her hand, as she stood up. "That hurt."

The zombies looked at their groaning colleague, then at her and began to move forward in unison. Paulina got into a fighting position. "C'mon, I can take you. I took karate!"

They advanced further.

"Haha! You're right! I quit when I got my yellow belt! Danny, let's go!" she squeaked out quickly, rushing to the shell-shocked boy, grabbing him, and then bolting towards a window. She kicked it open.

Danny looked down. "We are not jumping that," he declared.

"Do you have any other ideas?!" she squeaked, waving her arms around in panic.

"We're five stories high!" he shouted back.

"You have ghost powers!"

"That I don't know how to use!"

One of the minions grabbed the back of Danny's shirt and he yelped in surprise. He ripped himself out of their grip and slinked closer to the window. Without further argument, he grabbed Paulina and jumped.

A million thoughts rushed through his mind as the ground rapidly approached. His own screams were mixing with Paulina's high-pitched ones.

Was this seriously how he was gonna die?

He crushed his eyes close, waiting for the impact, but it never came. Paulina stopped screaming next to him. The wind wasn't rushing past his ears anymore and he hadn't impacted with the ground. Was he dead?

Danny cracked an eye open slowly, then gasped. He was floating. He was holding Paulina and they were floating. They had stopped barely a foot above the ground.

He glanced to the latina, who looked a little pale and dizzy. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, he lowered them to the ground. They landed softly in the alleyway, unharmed. Danny opened his eyes and breathed out in relief, grinning.

He glanced back up to the window they had jumped from. The zombies looked down curiously from the windows at them. He cackled, "That's right! Suck it!" he shouted, grinning widely. His heart was beating so rapidly he could barely feel it. The zombies groaned once collectively, then disappeared from the window edge.

Paulina breathed out shakily. "Nice job," she said, then blanched. "I think I'm going to be sick."

He scooted a little away from her. "Please don't."

He was suddenly very aware of how filthy the alleyway was when a roach flew past his face. Danny made a face, jumped to his feet, and frantically wiped his dirty hands on his jeans. "Bleh."

Paulina dizzily pointed to a fire escape on the opposite building. Danny nodded in understanding and they quickly made their way up it.

They soon heard clanging as they were on the last few steps to the roof. They looked down. Several minions were trying and failing to walk up the stairs. They kept tripping on the stairs, falling, then hitting their faces on them, and then groaning emptily.

"Oh, yeah," Danny said, stepping onto the roof, and gazing down at them. "Absolutely terrifying."

Paulina, who didn't seem to sense his sarcasm, shivered and nodded in agreement. "Okay," she began, still looking sickly. "You know how you said you wanted to be a superhero?"

Danny visibly paled at what she was implying. He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "N-no, n-no, no. I don't recall that."

"Something about wanting to help Valerie?"

"Nope."

"Something about being your friendly neighborhood halfa?"

He shook his head, tapping his chin in fake thought. "No, don't recall." Her expression floundered between unamused and amused. "Look," he said, shuffling uncomfortably. "Can you just, like, uh, explain what's going?"

"Ember's a ghost who uses music to mind-control people," she explained. "She sent out a control wave that the tv channel broadcasted to just about every tv in Amity Park."

"So," he began, "not good?"

"No," she confirmed. She looked around the sky searching for Valerie, but when she didn't see her, she frowned and turned back to Danny. "So, doing your light show might be a little helpful."

He scrunched his nose up. "Light show?"

"You know, like, transforming into a ghost?"

"Oh, yeah, no," he concluded. "I only did that once and against my will."

The fire escape creaked loudly and they booth looked down the fire escape. Ember's minions were slowly stumbling their way up the stairs.

Paulina angrily gestured to the oncoming mind-controlled citizens.

"They're not actual zombies!" he floundered, a slight whine to his tone. "They're not gonna eat us!"

"No, they'll just try to turn us into mindless puppets!" she whined back.

"Valerie is on her way!"

"THEN, WHERE IS SHE?"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW."

Unbeknownst to the bickering teens, one mind-controlled citizen had crawled their way to the roof. They moaned, rising to their feet, and staggered towards them.

Paulina's eyes widened. "Danny," she squeaked.

"I don't even have any idea on how to transform!" he complained, throwing his hands up in the air. He was oblivious to the approaching zombie. His back turned to them.

"Danny!"

Danny, suddenly aware of the urgency in Paulina's voice, slowly turned to his head. One of Ember's minions was only inches from his face. Empty neon blue eyes drilled into his own.

He jumped back in surprise at the sudden presence and did the first thing that came to reflex: shove them away. Hard.

The zombie stumbled backwards, moaning, tripping over their own feet. They stumbled closer and closer to the edge of the roof.

The teenagers' eyes widened with the realization about what was about to happen.

Danny rushed forward.

The back of the minion's knees knocked into the guardrail. They waved their arms around wildly, desperately trying to regain their balance. The zombie cried out, falling backwards to the pavement below.

Danny jumped after it.

He vaguely heard Paulina shout his name, but her cry fell silent to the pounding of his heart and the wind rushing past his ears. Coldness burst from his abdomen, alongside a blinding white light. The light formed into a halo around his waist, then split and rushed quickly over his body, as the ground rapidly approached. His entire being turned cold as he grabbed the mind-less minion and held them to his chest, so his back would take the impact.

Maybe they were one of Ember's minions now, but behind that, there was a person.

And no one else needed to die.

He closed his eyes, bracing himself for impact. His back collided crudely with the alley ground, the concrete underneath him cracked loudly. Danny opened his eyes, groaning slightly. He softly tossed the zombie in his arms a few feet away from him. The minions on the fire case moaned, staring down at him curiously.

"Danny!" Paulina shouted, rushing towards the guardrail, and leaning forward.

He sat up, surprised to find that no pain resonated through his body. _Woah, _he thought. _Trippy._

"I'm fine," he promised, standing up with ease.

She threw her hands up in excitement. "You did it!"

He grinned, looking down at himself. His pale skin had turned tanner. His body's outline now glowed a soft white. The electrical scar that raced up his arms and legs had suddenly become incredibly faded. He stood in his tattered black uniform clothes in his bare feet. Soft white hair fell into his eyes.

If he had looked in a mirror at that moment, he would've broken down at the reminder of everything he had been through. But his ghost form brought so much cooling energy with it, it was hard not to feel amazing.

He let himself smile. He flew up to the top of the roof. It only required a small amount of concentration. It just came so much more naturally.

"Did you know your eyes are green?" Paulina asked, staring up at him with a mix of awe and deep thought.

He blinked. "No."

"Yeah, they're like this crazy— almost, like, ectoplasmic— green."

"Oh," he said, floating closer to the roof. "That's awesome."

Paulina stared up at him giddily. He had just transformed! And it was magnificent! Just like the stories had told!

Danny glanced down at the other zombies were still struggling to get up the fire case, but were definitely getting closer to the top. "Can we, uh, find Valerie now?"

Paulina nodded and immediately agreed to flying with him, despite the lack of his control over his powers. If she died, she died flying! Besides, it wasn't like it was the first she had flown with someone who didn't know how to. Valerie had almost killed both of them on several occasions.

They squabbled with each other a little bit, trying to figure out how Danny would carry her. Since she refused to be carried bridal style or on his back, they settled for her wrapping his arm around his shoulders and Danny holding her by the stomach.

Danny was beyond nervous flying, but it ebbed away quickly as they flew off. He gasped suddenly, marveling as the city flew past quickly from underneath them. The wind tousled his hair and sang in his ears.

Was this what freedom felt like?

He hadn't even realized how high he was leading them until Paulina coughed loudly, complaining about how she couldn't breathe. He quickly apologized and descended. His lungs weren't even aware of the heavy feeling they felt.

At some point, he had forgotten he was supposed to be looking for Valerie.

"Wait," Paulina said suddenly. "Why couldn't you transform to save _us_, but you could to save the zombie-minion?"

"Uh," he blanked. "It was in the moment?"

She shot him a dirty glare and he laughed nervously.

Suddenly, the cool energy rushing through his veins slipped and dissipated in an instance. The energy released into the rings, washing over his body in seconds.

"Fuck."

They began plummeting to the ground, screaming at the top of their lungs. Danny forced his eyes closed to concentrate, trying to see if he could find the coolness he had the first time. Light flickered on and off around his waist, before it disappeared completely.

The ground was rapidly approaching and the wind was roaring in his ears. They were about to be puddy on the side of the road.

He braced himself as they got closer.

Suddenly, something metal grabbed onto his wrist, yacking him upwards. He choked in surprise. He was suddenly being dragged by through the air by someone else.

He opened his eyes, staring up at the red metal of Valerie's helmet. She was holding both him and Paulina by the wrist, nearly dangling them as she zipped through the sky.

Danny instantly relaxed, sighing with relief. Valerie had saved them. They weren't dead.

She began to slow down, sitting her two friends down on opposite sides of her hover board. "I literally leave you guys for, like, five minutes. Tops."

"And now the whole town is under Ember's control," Danny grumbled. "I think it's a fair trade."

"I can still drop you."

"Shutting up now," he declared, deciding wisely.

"Why were you guys plummeting through the sky?" she asked, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her. "Did Ember pick you up and drop you?"

"No," Paulina spoke up. "Danny transformed, then lost it."

He smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry."

Valerie looked down at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Hey," he huffed, folding his arms over his chest. "I can do things."

She grinned smugly once at him, then turned her attention back to flying. "So, that's who I saw on my radar," she concluded. "I can't find Ember. I think she's slipped past its range."

Paulina blinked up at her. "You weren't with Ember this whole time?"

"No," she admitted. "I was helping a bunch of kids get to a safe place. They were wearing AirPods when Ember broadcasted her wave."

Paulina whipped an invisible tear from her eye. "Oh, AirPods."

Danny had no idea what they were talking about.

Valerie slowed down her hover board, slowly flying over a crowded street. Mind-controlled minions stared up at them curiously.

Danny looked down at the street. "Does this, uh, happen often?" he asked, gesturing to the mind-less zombies wondering below.

"Yes," the girls answered in unison.

He made a face. Why did people even live in this town?

The huntress lowered them down when she found a clear landing behind what looked like an elementary school. When the board got close enough to the ground, Paulina and Danny hopped off.

"You two stay here," she told them.

"No way," he protested. "We want to help."

Paulina made a face. "Weren't you just saying you didn't want to?"

"I said other things, but not that."

"Alright, Karen."

He ignored her jabs at him and turned back to Valerie. He closed his eyes, searching for a few seconds for the cool energy he had felt earlier. When he felt it, he grabbed onto it. Instant coolness blossomed from his abdomen, spreading quickly all over his body. The white light reappeared, concentrating into the same ring, then washing slowly over his body. His feet instinctively floated off the ground. Danny opened his eyes, exposing ectoplasmic green eyes.

The two girls stared at him like goldfish. "That's cool," Valerie decided, ignoring the small beep of her radar.

"I know!" Paulina shouted.

He grinned pridefully, floating a little higher. He put his legs together and they suddenly formed into a tail. He screeched and almost fell out of the sky. He imagined he was forcing his legs apart and they reformed to how they usually were. Danny sighed with relief, shoulders slumping.

"Very cool," Valerie drawled sarcastically. Paulina laughed softly.

His cheeks burned a soft green. "Hey, don't make fun of—" he froze mid-sentence, gasping. A familiar blue wisp forced its way out of his mouth, turning his already cold body much colder.

Paulina blinked curiously, leaning forward. "What was that?"

Valerie's radar beeped with warning.

Someone was suddenly phasing through the ground to float above them. The form turned tangible, instantly becoming clearer to the naked eye.

Ember grinned down at them. Her fiery blue hair flicking behind her. Her fingers pressed her guitar to her hip. "I thought I sensed another ghost," she grinned, her grip tightening. "So, dipstick," she began, focusing her eyes on Danny, "what brings you to town?"

Danny tensed, floating a little higher. "None of your business," he shot back.

Ember's grinned only widened. "Ooh, feisty," she commented. "You're gonna be fun." She flew back into the air, tapping her nailed fingers onto her guitar. "I gotta say, Val. I thought you were pretty predictable, but teaming up with a ghost?" she laughed. "Now, that's a surprise."

Valerie's eyes narrowed.

Paulina's face morphed between offense and slight anger. She waved her fist angrily at the ghost, imitating an old man. "She's not predictable!"

Ember only rolled her eyes, raising her hand. "You humans are so annoying."

She shot a fiery blue blast at the human girl. Valerie was in front of her in moments, reflecting the blast with a shield. It bounced off and flew off somewhere into the sky.

Danny jumped in front of the latina. "Get behind me!"

Paulina looked at his skinny frame and then recalled how they had almost died five minutes ago and then decided that today was really not a good day for her. "Oh, yeah," she groaned. "I feel really safe."

Ember cocked her head in amusement. This was a game to her more than anything else.

"Turn everyone back to normal, Ember," Valerie growled. Her suit formed an ecto-gun at her wrist at her command.

Ember stared at her, deeply unimpressed. "And why would I do that?" she laughed. "I'm having the most fun I've had in years!" she paused, then grinned maliciously. "World domination on top of that is also a plus."

She fired her ecto-gun. "Didn't I tell you, you talk to much?"

Ember easily dodged the blast, zipping around the space between them, and slamming her fist into the huntress. Her raw strength sent Valerie slamming into the ground with a grunt.

The ghost sneered at the huntress on the floor, grabbing Danny by the collar, and raising him in the air. She narrowed her eyes at the boy. "So, what's a ghost doing alongside a ghost hunter?"

An ecto-blast suddenly knocked into Ember, sending her flying backwards. Danny fell to the ground, grunting. Valerie hopped back onto her feet, her ecto-gun smoking slightly. "Hands off the ghost boy."

Ember was pretty, though. Did he really mind?

"Paulina, get out of here," Valerie commanded, eyes drilling into the blue ghost across her.

The latina frowned, looking between all of them, before she nodded solemnly, and ran off to hide to watch the fight from somewhere a far.

The ghost boy floated back into the air. The ghostly energy was really getting to his head.

"Snow White and Red Riding Hood," Ember commented, swinging her guitar in front of her, "your first collab is about to be your last."

She slammed down on the chords. A giant blue fist erupted from it. They flew in opposite directions to avoid it. The projected fist slammed into ground, sending dirt and debris everywhere.

Danny's human senses were suddenly flooding back in. Was he insane? Was he literally insane? He could barely hold his transformation! Why was he fighting a ghost?

He was so enveloped in his thoughts, he missed Ember's incoming blast. It knocked him into the grass, dragging up dirt and grass.

His head was spinning. He could not do this. He could not do this. Who was he kidding? He was just a kid! He couldn't be a halfa!

The cold energy slipped from him like water through his hands. The energy concentrated into the rings, which quickly reverted him back to his human form.

Ember gasped, flying back in shock. Her eyes were wide. "A halfa?"

Valerie took the opening. A blast from her ecto-gun knocked Ember out of the sky. The musical ghost crashed to the ground, hissing darkly.

She stood up on her feet. Her fiery hair burned brighter and longer. "Of course," she sneered. "Once a human, always a human." She fixed her attention to Danny and grinned. "You're gonna be fun to destroy, halfa."

The dark-haired boy swallowed, jumping to the side to narrowly avoid one of her blasts. Valerie shot several nets at her, but Ember easily dodged all of them. Danny scrambled to find the cold energy again. His transformation came much easier this time. He shot up into the air, tightening his hands into fist. The cooling ghost energy surged through him like a drug. It made him feel _alive._

Which was really quite ironic, but let's not focus on that now.

Ember had managed to duplicate herself into two. Her copy shot towards where Paulina was hidden behind a tree and her real self zipped towards him. Valerie flew after her copy. Her suit rushed forward to form a long blade and she sliced the clone in half with ease.

Danny hadn't even meant to do it. It came to him on instinct. He was raising his arm, without even, thinking, and the cool energy grew stronger and rushed forward towards his palm. Green energy glowed in his palm, spreading and spreading and spreading, and it shot forward. A massive blast of green energy raced forward, encasing Ember completely. She was sent flying backwards, tumbling along the ground. Her clothes cut and her skin covered in scratches.

She stood to her feet, heaving heavily. Her guitar was broken at her side. She seethed, eyes glowing brightly. She turned to Danny. "You ba—"

Her form flickered. She was suddenly being sucked up. Ember screamed, clawing to the ground, as she was a dragged away. "Nooo-!"

Valerie's ghost funnel catcher beeped at its success, then collapsed back into her suit.

The ghost boy stood to his feet, breathing heavily. "That," he gasped, his hair tousled, "was terrifying... but also awesome?"

The huntress grinned behind her visor. "Fun, right?"

He nodded eagerly. Paulina appeared next to him, shaking slightly. "You know," she said, "today has not been a fun day."

"It wasn't that bad," Danny argued and she grumbled at him. He looked up at Valerie, eyes sparkling with concern. "Is everyone back to normal?"

She nodded. "The ghost funnel cuts off all flow of ecto-energy. Everyone should be regaining consciousness about now."

Paulina clapped her hands and then spread her arms. "Great! Let's leave. Cool powers, Danny, but let's leave."

The other two laughed. Paulina climbed onto Valerie's hover board and they flew off.

Danny only fell out of the sky twice after that.

—-

A/N: I had originally intended for Paulina and Danny to just watch Valerie fight Ember on TV, but Ember being Danny's first ghost flowed naturally, so I just decided to do it. I tried to include a few call-backs to Mystery Meat. Also, uh,,, I... no one is straight in this story. I'm sorry. Danny is a bisexual wreck, pass it on. I don't really know what else to write here, but thank you for the comments :((( they mean so much to me!


	6. Chapter 6

Paulina sighed tiredly, readjusting her glasses. Her eyes were burning from staring at her laptop screen for so long. She pressed 'next page' on the Google search.

Valerie snored softly next to her, chest rising and falling with every breath. She was curled up on the bedroom floor, covered in a fluffy blanket that Paulina had draped over her when she had fallen asleep there. Danny shifted restlessly in his sleep at the foot of his bed. He had managed to kick off all the blankets and end up on the opposite end of the bed.

The TV channel had been switched to an old kids show that made for good white noise. The room was dimly lit and the AC had been turned on to high.

Pain ached at the bottom of her spine from sitting on the floor for so long. She slowly stood up on wobbly feet, gently placing her laptop on the floor.

Valerie shuffled in her sleep and Paulina smiled fondly down at her.

When they had returned from fighting Ember, they had eaten dinner, played cards, and then Danny had collapsed on to his bed. Valerie soon followed him.

They were exhausted, so she would let them sleep.

Her bones made an ugly cracking noise when she stood up that made her wince. She paced around the room a little until her legs stopped hurting, and she grabbed her laptop, then sat down at the head of Danny's bed. She bunched up the extra pillows to support her back.

Paulina resumed her search.

She had been scowering the Internet for days, looking over every news article and report of a missing teenage boy she could get her hands on. The problem was they had no idea where Danny had been picked up, so she was left to go through missing reports across the whole country. And there were a lot of missing teenagers. Danny had said most of the kids who had been kidnapped were druggies and runaways, had anyone even reported him missing?

At the opposite end of the bed, Danny jolted awake. His eyes snapped open, wide with fear.

"You okay?" Paulina asked.

"I," he frowned, eyes flicking across the room anxiously, "yeah." he clearly lied before curling himself into a ball and falling back asleep.

And of course there was that problem. Danny was traumatized, no matter how much he tried to hide it. He needed some type of anxiety medicine or something that would help his PTSD, but they had no way to get those.

And what if they didn't find Danny's family before the end of summer? What would they do then? They couldn't hide him in Valerie's spare bedroom forever.

Paulina bit down on her nail nervously, but cringed when her teeth collided with her acrylic nails.

Danny shifted in his sleep again and she glanced at his tense shoulders. Her eyes swam trying to refocus on something that wasn't her laptop screen. She blinked away the black spots in front of her eyes. She was suddenly very aware of how tired she was and how heavy her shoulders had become.

She closed her laptop shut, not even bothering to turn it off. She jumped off the bed, grabbed a spare blanket, and then draped it over Danny's body. The dark-haired boy immediately clung onto the blanket in his sleep.

She grabbed two of the spare pillows on his bed and another extra blanket. She kneeled down on the floor, gently lifted Valerie's head, and then tucked one of the pillows underneath it. Paulina then fluffed up her own pillow. When she was satisfied, she placed it next to Valerie's and laid down. She grabbed the large fluffy blanket and placed it over the both of them. Clutching Valerie's arm, she gently drifted off to sleep.

—

Valerie glanced down at the speed meter. That number couldn't be right, could it? Just a week ago he could barely hold his transformation—

"134 mph!" Paulina screamed, throwing her arms up in excitement. In turn, she threw up her clipboard, which landed loudly behind her. "That's incredible, Danny!"

They had spent nearly the whole week in Valerie's ginormous basement helping Danny practice his powers. And the results, well, the results, could speak for themselves.

Danny, now in ghost form, grinned, hovering over his friends. The lightning-like scars that had once wrapped around his body had vanished, like they had never been there in the first place. White hair fell in front of luminescent green eyes.

"I still think I need a new outfit," he said, gesturing to the tattered rags of his program uniform.

"Well," Valerie began, placing the speed gun to the side. She jumped on top of the counter casually. "Until we can find a suit that won't phase off you, you're kind stuck with that."

He shrugged in a very un-Danny like way, his grin unwavering. He floated closer to the ground and softly set his bare feet down. "So," he grinned, rubbing his hands together eagerly, and turning to Paulina, "stats?"

"A 5mph increase from yesterday. Only incredibly excessive use of powers can unwillingly revert you back to your human form. You still have problems controlling your powers in an emotional state, though," Paulina listed off the top of her head. She still hadn't retrieved her clipboard.

An interesting rushed into the ghost boy's cheeks. "I do not!" he protested.

"Paulina jokingly smacked your butt and you couldn't make yourself visible for thirty minutes afterwards."

The latina muttered, scowling to herself. "I told him I was sorry."

Danny's ear tinged with color in embarrassment. "Okay, so maybe there's some bugs to work out."

Valerie stared at him, unimpressed. "You know how many broken plates I've had to throw out?"

"You can afford to replace them."

Paulina leaned against the counter next to her best friend and crossed her arms. "Oooh, ghost Danny's got attitude," she grinned, then paused, rubbing her chin with thought. "In fact, I wonder if the ectoplasm affects your mental state and with your powers increasing at such a rapid rate—"

"—Yeah, when I found you in the park, you were a 4.8 ghost at best," Valerie agreed, arms crossed. "You're at a 5.6 on the ecto-entity scale now, though. Ghosts usually don't change levels unless they go through a massive power surge and those are pretty rare."

Paulina shook her arms with excitement. "That's incredible! That has to be related to his halfa-being! Will he continue to move up the scale? And to have a such a rise in power so quickly—!" she rattled on, eyes glowing with wonder.

"I think I should have a catch phrase," Danny spoke up.

"Spook's already taken," the huntress told him.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied. He pushed himself off the ground and turned on his back to float aimlessly around. "Like what about ... I'm going ghost?"

"That's stupid," she said. "That's like the PG-version of saying, 'I'm going to die'."

He flipped over onto his side to face her and whined. "You ruin my fun, Val."

"She wouldn't let me come up with a cool name for her," Paulina spoke up, holding onto the clipboard she had finally retrieved. She shot a playful dirty glare at the other girl, resting the clipboard on the ground.

Valerie made a face, scrunching up her nose. "Paulie, you wanted to call me 'Ghost Catcher'—"

She threw her arms up dramatically. "It was brilliant!"

"—I'm not Native Ameri—!"

She slammed her hands onto the counter for the dramatics and leaned into the huntress's face. "Red Dart."

"No."

"Cherry Bomb."

"No."

"Lady Red."

Valerie sighed tiredly, her posture sinking. "Paulie, I love you so much, but all of those are stupid."

The latina feigned an expression of hurt and leaned towards Danny. "I personally like Red Lady," she told him, holding her hand up like she was telling him a secret.

The ghost boy grinned mischievously, nodding. "Very classy."

"You two are the worst," Valerie groaned.

His smile only grew wider. "Where did Red Huntress come from, then?" he asked, cutely tilting his head with curiosity.

"That's what the media dubbed me and it just kinda stuck, you know," she shrugged.

Danny suddenly froze, stiffening, with a shiver. A soft blue wisp floated out of his open mouth. He watched it intently as it faded into the air.

"Ghost sense," commented Paulina. "So awesome."

The ghost boy nodded in agreement. He grinned, turning to Valerie. "Race you there!" he shouted. Without losing another second, he turned intangible and shot through the ceiling. Her ghost radar beeped at her to warn of a nearby ghost.

The huntress sighed, hoping off the counter, and walking towards the stairs. She found an empty room to transform into and flew out of the window.

Danny was floating above her house, his ghostly tail flickering back and forth.

A cock grin spread across her face. "What's wrong, ghost boy?" she asked, flying higher to float with him. "Can't pin point the ghost?"

He flushed, crossing his hands over his chest. "No," he said, clearly lying.

Her grin only grew wider and she looked down at her radar smugly. "There's two of 'em. You up for a challenge?"

"Do I look like a wimp to you?"

"A little bit."

He made a face.

She glanced down at her ghost radar one more time. "They're by the IMAX theater," she informed, shooting off into the air. Danny quickly flew after her, hair blowing wildly, and wind howling in his ears.

The IMAX theater was easy to spot. It was large building with a lot of people pouring out of it, all of them shouting loudly. Two figures suddenly phased out from the side of the building. Both of them humanoid ghosts in their late teens.

The first ghost looked oddly human and would've easily passed off as one if not for his eery glow. He had greasy blond hair that came down to his shoulders and scarily bright green eyes. His skin was an inhuman gray and his face was dotted with freckles. He was dressed as a biker, wearing thick boots and punk clothes.

The second ghost was a furious female. She had choppily cut, dark green hair. Her skin was tinted a soft green. Her bright red eyes were framed by purple eye shadow and thick eyeliner. She was dressed in a red miniskirt, a jacket the same color, and a black crop top.

"Oh, no," groaned Valerie. "It's those two."

Danny quirked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

The female ghost was shaking was raw anger, green light swarming around her in a dramatic show of power. Her fist glowed a fiery blue. She raised it and blasted it at the male ghost, who yelped, barely dodging the blast, as it soared over his head into the clouds.

She seemed to have no interest in the two ghost hunters nearby.

"Kitty, please!" the male ghost cried out, clasping his hands together like he was begging. "I'm sorry!"

"Can it, Johnny!" shouted the second ghost, Kitty. Her eyes and her flaming hand glowed brighter. "I'm so sick and tired of you and your— your womanizing!"

The first ghost made an offended face, clutching his hand over his chest. "Womanizing?" he quoted, sniffling.

Kitty aimed a perfect shot of him, which sent him flying across the parking lot, and crashing into the lamp post. She smirked deviously, raising her fist smugly, and blew the smoke off of it.

Johnny groaned, raising himself from the ground. The lamp post he had crashed into was now badly dented with the shape of his body. The biker sneered and brought his fingers to his mouth, he whistled sharply. His shadow jumped up from the pavement, forming into a shapeless creature with an ugly grin.

Valerie's radar beeped at the alarm of a new ghost.

The shadow shot at a rapid speed towards the ghost girl, hissing loudly. Kitty's fist erupted into blue flames again. When the shadow got close enough, she punched, sending it crashing to the ground. The pavement cracked underneath the ghost as it landed.

"Really, Johnny?" asked Kitty, holding up her glowing fist smugly. "Sending your unlucky 13 after me?"

The shadow looked up at her, whimpered once, then flew back towards its owner. It blended back into the ground as Johnny's shadow. The ghost's face grew paler.

"You know," Danny said, looking down at the ghosts who were still oblivious to their presence, "we could just watch this unfold."

Valerie rolled her eyes dismissively, activating her ecto-gun. Kitty shot forward, screaming and snarling ferociously at the other teenage ghost. Johnny yelped, covering his face. Valerie aimed her ecto-gun and it whined loudly. Her blast knocked into Kitty, who was sent rolling around on the parking lot.

The ghost raised her face up from the ground quickly, hissing. Her red eyes burned piercingly. She finally noticed the two new additions to the fight. Kitty stood up, dusting her fish legs off. She spat on the ground, scowling up at the ghost hunter. "This is between me and Johnny, Red. Stay out of this."

Johnny shouted, "Please do not stay out of this!"

Kitty sneered and turned to the other ghost. "Well, this wouldn't have happened, if you didn't drop your pants at the sight of every pretty girl!" she screamed, fists exploding in a brighter fiery blue.

Johnny stood up, holding his hands out like he was trying to approach a dangerous animal. "Kitty, I would never cheat on yo—"

Her eyes narrowed, "You were about to kiss her!"

"I was not!"

She screamed, shaking her arms in frustration. "Just one date!" she shouted, "Just one date without you flirting with other girls!"

Johnny was now visibly sweating. Could ghosts even sweat? "Kitty," he began weakly, "you know you're the only chic I love!"

Her whole body shook with rage. "Cut it, Johnny!" she snapped. She raised her hand to her lips.

Valerie's eyes widened. "Get Kitty, I've got Johnny," she ordered, quickly flying off. Danny nodded and followed after her.

"I've had enough." stated Kitty. She brought her hands to her lips and then blew a kiss. The action took form into a ghostly blue kiss, flying straight towards her boyfriend.

Danny threw ecto-blasts at the ghost, effectively knocking her off her feet. At the same time, Valerie flew in front of Johnny, her suit rushing forward to form a staff. She took it in her hands dn sliced the ghostly kiss in half. It shattered and rained to the ground like glass.

Jonny sighed in relief. "Thanks, Red."

"We're not friends," she stated harshly, briefly twirling the staff in her hand. She turned a cold shoulder to the ghost and flew off next to Danny.

Kitty's hands twitched. She turned harshly on her heels, red eyes glowing brightly. She held up her fist and it exploded into blue flames. "I told you to stay out of this, ghost hunter," she growled.

The huntress scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And I thought I told you no more dates in the human world," she remarked.

The ghost extinguished the fire in her hand. She scoffed hurtfully, glaring at the other girl. "We weren't hurting anyone!"

"You caused wide spread hysteria because you were jealous."

She scowled. "You would to if your boyfriend was a cheating grease ball."

"... Kitten, I'm still right here."

"I know."

Danny smiled, amused, subconsciously floating higher into the air. His legs pressed together tp form his ghostly tail. His green eyes sparkled with amusement. "You know," he admitted, "this is not what I expected when I started to pick up ghost fighting."

The two other teenage ghosts finally seemed to really notice. Johnny's eyes widened comically. Kitty grinned, placing a hand on her hip. She arched an eyebrow with a smug expression. "So, you're that halfa kid Ember was talking about."

He blinked owlishly. "You know Ember?"

Valerie groaned. "They're like best friends or some shit."

He turned back to the female ghost and frowned. "And what was that kiss thing?" he asked if a tone that left little room for argument.

Kitty giggled in an embarrassed manner, shrugging. She tapped her lips with her nails. "Oh, that's just my banishing kiss," she laughed, suddenly lowering her eyes and smirking smugly. "It makes any man, ghost or human, disappear," she grinned deviously. "For good, if I don't bring them back within twelve hours, of course."

"Cool, cool, cool, cool," he said, clearly not cool as his human emotions temporarily flooded him. "So, uh, she's crazy," he concluded to Valerie. "Are all ghosts crazy?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the ghost."

"Oh. Oh, yeah."

Well, she did have him there.

Kitty reached into her skirt pocket, slowly pulling out a small bottle of lipstick. She easily applied it with years of perfection. She smacked her lips together, then slowly put the tube back into her pocket.

"Don't worry, ghost boy," she said, bringing her hand to her lips. "You'll soon find out how it works."

Danny braced, ready to fly to avoid her aim.

She blew the kiss.

It raced towards faster than it had the first time. Valerie reached forward with her staff to slice it in half, but a large black figure came hurtling towards her, effectively knocking her off her hover board, and sending her tumbling onto the pavement below.

"Valerie!"

Johnny stood up, glaring at his two enemies. "No one messes with my girlfriend!"

Kitty gasped. "Oh, Johnny!" she cried out, clasping her hands together. The anger in her eyes immediately evaporated. You could now almost see hearts dancing in them.

Johnny grinned, flying over to his girlfriend. He puffed his chest out. "I've got you, kitten," he promised.

She sighed dreamily. "Oh, Johnny."

"Wow," concluded Danny, startled at their sudden forgivement. "You guys need couples therapy."

Meanwhile, Valerie rolled around on the parking lot ground, struggling against the black figure above her, pushing her into the ground. Johnny 13's shadow grinned down menacingly at her. She sneered back at it, holding it off with her staff.

Her ghost radar beeped to notify her of a new ghost.

"Really?" she hissed sarcastically, "I never would have guessed."

She glared up at Shadow, who only silently grinned. She scowled back at it. She suddenly retracted the staff back into her suit. In surprise of the sudden disappearance of the weapon it was putting all its force on, Shadow fell forward. Valerie took the opening. She brought her legs underneath the ghost and smashed them into the ghost's torso.

Shadow cried out, flying backward into the air. Her hover board came rushing back to her, but on its way, it smacked right into Shadow's back. The ghost fell to the ground with a cry, cracking the pavement underneath it.

The huntress smirked, stepping back onto her hover board, and raising her arm. Her suit's nanotechnology rushed forward to create the ghost catching funnel. Shadow howled loudly as it was sucked in, clawing at the concerted ground. It was finally sucked in with a final wail. The funnel beeped once at its success, then retreated back into her feet.

The African-American refocused her gaze onto the others. "One down," she said. "Two more to go."

Danny pushed his hands together, then pulled them apart. Each hand glowing with a green ecto-blast. The two other ghosts ignored him, desperately trying to suck each other's faces off. He blanched, his turning a slight green. "Okay, ew, gross," he noted, firing the ecto-blasts. The twin blasts knocked the couple off their feet and away from each other.

"Johnny!"

"Kitty!"

Danny zoomed forward, smashing his fist into Johnny's face. The other ghost boy groaned, clutching his quickly bruising cheek. He scowled, "This ain't none of your business, kid."

The white-haired boy floated a little higher, his chest puffed with righteousness. "You made it my business when you started putting people in danger."

He shrugged. "I mean, you gotta die at some point."

"Dude, that's brutal."

Before Johnny could respond quippy comeback, Danny dived towards him, reaching his arm out to punch him again. Johnny easily caught his fist. The ghost boy's whole body paused in the air.

A mischievous grin spread across Johnny's face. "Sorry, kid," he said, clearly very not sorry. He grabbed the boy by both arms and began swinging him around. He released and Danny flew from the momentum, shouting. Kitty appeared out of nowhere, smashing him into the ground. The ghost boy groaned wearily, stumbling to his feet.

Valerie flew to him and placed their backs together, raising her ecto-gun. "You good?"

He wheezed dramatically. "Peachy."

One half of the ghost couple flew over to face them. The ghost hunters shot forward.

Valerie shot an ecto-blast, knocking Kitty backwards. Johnny blocked Danny's kick with his arms. In turn, he grabbed his greasy hair and pulled.

"Ow! Ow!" wailed Johnny. "Hands off the hair!" He grabbed Danny's legs and slammed him into the ground. "You play dirty, kid," he sneered, hovering over the other boy, pinning him to the ground.

Maybe in any another situation, he would find this a little flattering.

"All's fair in war," he retorted, phasing through the ground. Johnny fell to the ground at his sudden disappearance. Danny reappeared behind him and grabbed him by the legs. With inhuman strength, he threw the other ghost at his ghost hunting friend. "Valerie!" he called.

The huntress turned away from her fight, activating her ghost funnel. Johnny was sucked into it loudly as he flew towards her. Her suit beeped.

"Johnny!" wailed Kitty. She suddenly appeared completely unhinged. "You'll pay for this!"

She screamed, rushing forward at an incredible speed. Danny flew in front of Valerie, a ecto-dome spreading from his hands. Kitty crashed into it, comedically falling to the ground with her limbs askew.

Danny let the ecto-dome fall. "Honestly," he said, grinning cockily. "You need to dump him. I touched his hair. It was, like, high key gross."

Kitty sneered up at him. Valerie activated her ghost funnel and she was sucked up within, without any further fight. Valerie's suit beeped as the funnel retracted back into her suit.

The ghost blinked with surprise. "Did we do it?"

"Hell yeah," she said, grinning at him proudly. "Not bad for a rookie."

In a blink of an eye, people were suddenly surging towards them, surrounding them in the center of the crowd. They pushed their phones, microphones, and cameras into their faces.

"Red Huntress! Red Huntress, over here!"

"Ms. Red, excuse me, do you have a moment to talk?"

"Red Huntress, are you now partnering with ghosts?"

"He's such a cute ghost!"

The adrenaline flooding through Danny's brain made him feel indestructible, not even the crowd could scare him. He gently floated down to the ground, stepping closer to Valerie.

"Red Huntress, who is the ghost with you?"

"I don't know." She turned to Danny. "Why doesn't he tell you himself?"

"Ghost boy!"

"Ghost boy, what's your name?"

Danny smiled. "Danny."

"Danny?"

"Danny!"

"Danny what?"

"Uh," he swallowed, quickly beginning to panic.

Think ghost names. Think ghost-related names! Danny Ghost. Danny Specter. Danny Casper. Phantom. Danny—

"P-phantom," he stuttered out, "i-it's Danny Phantom."

"Phantom!"

"Phantom, over here!"

"Let's go, ghost boy," said Valerie, flying off into the sky. Danny quickly followed after her, waving goodbye to the crowd.

—-

Danny stared in horror at the TV screen. It was turned on to the news channel, which was playing footage of Danny Phantom and the Red Huntress fighting Kitty and Johnny earlier that day.

He moaned, sinking into the chair in his bedroom, covering his face in mortification. He was now very much human. "This is bad," he decided, dark hair falling in front of his hands. "This is very, very bad."

Paulina and Valerie glanced to each other than at him. "Why?" the latina asked, "You're a hero!"

"Yeah, the town loves you," added Valerie. "They tried to arrest me several times before they even remotely liked me."

"No, it's not-! It's not that!" he moaned, sinking even deeper into the chair. He removed his hands from in front of his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. The adrenaline from the fight had long warn off. He was now back in his human form with his human emotions overwhelming him. Anxiety flooded his senses and settled deep into his chest. "I was supposed to lay low!"

Paulina picked at her nails in thought. "Lay low?"

The realization suddenly dawned on Valerie. "The company, they'll find you— how— how did none of us think of that?" she shouted, angry with herself. How stupid were they? How stupid was she? They had just placed a giant red beacon on top of Danny.

The dark-haired boy tugged at his hair, stressed out. "I forgot, I can't believe I forgot. My ghost side— my fucking ghost side is like some type of fucking drug, it makes me all loopy and happy and— ugh!" He winked so far into the chair that now all of his torso was on the lower half of the chair.

His ghost half had a weird impact on him. It made him feel indestructible. It made him feel like nothing in the world could get even close to touching him. Like he was free. Like had always been free. It was an incredibly, unfightably intoxicating feeling.

It did what his human half couldn't. It made him feel _alive._ Ironic, considering which half it was, but it was true. His human half was overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. Years of traumatic experience and PTSD weighed him down and held onto him like an anchor. His ghost half completely cut that tie. It was so exhilarating. It was so mind-blowing it was impossible to not get lost in the feeling.

"They're going to find me," he whispered, anxiety creeping into his words. "Masters, he's going to find me."

The two girls leaned forward, concerned for their friend. "Who?"

"The guy— the guy in charge of the program. VM Genesis."

Their eyes widened in shock at what he was saying. No matter how hard they tried, they could never get Danny calm enough to tell them who was responsible for his pain. But now, here he was, spilling it out in an ushered panic.

Valerie's eyes hardened. "Masters? Masters who?"

"Vlad," he gasped out, struggling to breathe. "V... Vlad Masters. He's... he's a scientist. Geneticist."

"Hey, Danny, calm down," Paulina said, leaning closer. She gently pressed a hand to his shoulder. "It's okay. Calm down."

The ghost boy nodded quickly in a very un-calm way. He suddenly closed his eyes, forcing a shaky exhale. He opened his eyes again, breathing heavily, but much slower than he had before.

"He's..." his voice felt weak and fragile. "He's a geneticist and ghost specialist... VM Genesis is his own private company dedicated to researching the ghost version of DNA," he swallowed. "Only the people who work there or are stuck there know it's true purpose."

The aura around them grew cold. Paulina's hand drifted off his shoulder and then tightened in her lap. "Creating halfas," she whispered quietly. Danny nodded.

"I... I'm the only one that they've actually succeeded on," he breathed out shakily. "Vlad will do anything to find me. And if he can't, he'll start testing up again." His voice cracked at the thought. "My friends..."

"We're not gonna let Masters get you, Danny," Valerie promised in a tone that said she was absolutely confident in her words. "He won't ever touch you again."

Paulina nodded, scooting closer to Danny. "We won't let your friends be hurt either. We'll find him and stop him before he can try, okay?"

The boy nodded, sniffling softly. His whole body was still shaking from the stress. Paulina pulled him into a hug and Valerie slowly followed after.

"You just need to lay low for the time being," said Valerie sternly and quietly. The latina nodded. "But we'll protect you. And you have ghost powers to protect yourself too, Danny."

"They'll never touch you again."

He smiled.

—

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to write! I actually meant for the press to dub Danny "Inviso-Bill" like they do in canon, but it just ended up fitting better that he tell them now. Valerie and Danny are kind of ghost hunting partners now, with Paulina tagging along occasionally on their more safer adventures. I really don't have anything else to say here, except that I am really sorry it took so long to update D: hopefully, the next chapter will be uploaded sooner. Thank you so much for all of the love, views, and comments!


	7. Chapter 7

Danny spent the next few days in a state of deeply set anxiety. How was he not supposed to be anxious?

There had been several days where it had been near impossible to get Danny to transform out of Phantom. Now, he refused to even access any of his powers. He couldn't put Valerie and Paulina at risk. What would happen to them if Masters found him?

The little nails he had built up since escaping were quickly chewed back down into their quick. If his ghost side numbed his deeply ingrained worries to the point that he couldn't feel them, what else could it do?

Valerie and Paulina had tried cheering him up by sharing local posts about him. Most of the people of Amity Park were instantly infatuated with him. If the Red Huntress trusted a ghost, they had to be the best of the best. It also helped that he was cute. He was an overnight heart throb, really.

Though, seeing comments praising him put a smile to a face, the anxiety that had been leeching onto him for the past few days couldn't seem to vanish. He was shaken, but could you blame him? Eventually, Paulina and Valerie had gotten tired of his constant worrying. They had woken him up at 10am, shoved him in the car, and drove their way to the nearest bubble tea cafe.

The two scolded him and said he was drinking it wrong, but it was a drink. He didn't see how he could possibly drink it the _wrong _way.

The strawberry flavoring was sweet t0 lips and the boba balls odd on his tongue. Once they had finished their drinks, they had taken off again.

Danny, as usual, was in the back seat, with his hand propping his chin up as he stared out the window. The rush of wind blew through his uncombed hair and made it messier. He studied the buildings as they drove by. They all tugged familiarly at the back of his mind. It was frustrating to no end. How did he know this town? At some point in time, had Amity been his home?

His anxiety ate away at his mind.

Eventually, they arrived and Valerie parked the car. Danny stepped out from the back seat, closing the door behind him, and staring at the sign. "Amity Park Humane Society?" he asked, frowning quizzically at the sign and then at the building. "What are we doing here?"

Paulina appeared behind him, grinning brightly. She swung her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "It was my idea. We have to be 18 or older to hold the pets at the pet store."

Valerie walked next to her female friend, eyes focused ahead. "We're not adopting any when we leave."

The latina froze in her tracks and then turned to the African-American with a steady gaze. "Who said we were leaving?" she challenged, grinning. The huntress shook her head, smiling, and pushing open the front door.

A young blond lady wearing animal-printed scrubs immediately greeted them when they entered. "Hi! Is there anything I can do to help you kids?"

The three quickly walked up to the front desk. Valerie spoke first. "We're just looking, actually."

"Okay," she nodded. "Do you want me to take you to the cats? The dogs?"

They all nodded in sync. "Yes, please!" added Paulina.

The woman smiled at them once, then turned her back on them to lead them down the hallway. "The cats are in that room," she pointed, "and the puppy's are in that one. Full-grown dogs are outside through that door."

"Thank you!"

She nodded, smiled, and walked back to the front desk.

Danny paused, turning to his friends. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

Paulina swung her arm around his neck and pulled him close. "Well, you've been pretty down and out of it, so we thought we should try to cheer you up."

Before he could protest, Valerie stepped in. "Just give it a shot, Danny. We're already here."

He wistfully looked off to the side, staring through the looking glass of the room with all of the cats. The pawed at each other and sassily flicked their tails. "I don't like cats," he decided.

Paulina grinned dramatically, stepped away from the cat room to the puppy room. She held up her arms, gesturing to the room. "Then, door number 2 is just for you!"

He raised an eyebrow challengingly. "What if I don't like dogs either?"

Valerie kicked him in the shin.

"Ow," he whined.

The latina smiled, resting her hand on the handle, and then pushing it open. She quickly rushed in and the other two soon followed, closing the door behind them. The puppy room was filled with energetic, yapping puppies ranging from the age of one month to a year. Pee pads were laid all over the floor, along with a wide assortment of colorful chew toys. Several people were already in the room, most of them young adults, cooing and swaddling the small creatures like babies.

"Hi," a new face greeted, clearly an employee. "All puppies are $65, including all shots and heart-worm medicine. Feel free to pet them. If you lift them up, please sit on the ground, so that if they fall, they won't fall far."

Danny nodded absentmindedly, eyes already trailing after a small puppy, who was wobbling after a second employee, yapping happily. His lips twitched into a smile. "Thank you."

The employee nodded, then walked off to supervise another group.

In a trance, the dark-haired boy sat down on the clean pee pads, criss-crossing his legs. A brown puppy immediately came running up to him, tag wagging enthusiastically. It yapped once at him, moving under his hand in an attempt to get the boy to pet him. The act made Danny chuckle as he rubbed the puppy's back.

His hand trailed down to the collar around his neck. Danny held up the cheap tag to the light. "Gizmo," he read, eye brows shooting up in surprise. The puppy's ears twitched at his name. A giggle slipped past his lips. "That's a funny name, isn't it?" he asked, scratching underneath his chin.

Gizmo barked up at him cheerfully.

Danny couldn't resist the ruge to coo. "Aw, who's a good boy?" he asked, "Yeah, you're a good boy! You're a good boy!"

Soon enough, two more puppies came bounding up to him. These two were smaller than Gizmo. The larger one was a dark black with brown on its face and the smaller one was white and brown. Danny smiled at the new puppies, reaching with both hands to pet them. Upon seeing the new competition, Gizmo barked, then pounced on one puppy.

Danny watched with a small amused smile as the puppies attempted to brawl. The puppy underneath Gizmo yapped, snapping his small teeth at the other dog. They growled harmlessly at each other.

The ghost boy stepped in, pulling the two apart. The puppy wiggled in his hand and he gently set them down. Gizmo, however, had no qualms with being picked up, so Danny gently placed the brown puppy in his lap. The other two puppies yapped at him, moving closer to him to stare up at him with big eyes in hopes of getting more attention.

He smiled, contently letting the small dogs push him around.

The two girls watched the dark-haired boy a few feet away, surrounded by their own tiny horde of puppies. "Well," commented Valerie, "he changed his view very quickly." Paulina nodded wordlessly with a smile, continuing to scratch a puppy's chin.

—

It had taken hours before they finally decided to leave, even then it was only because the humane society was closing.

Danny was heartbroken upon having to leave his new friends, but even with them no longer constantly pouncing on him, his heart felt a little warmer. He couldn't help but smile as he stared out the car window.

In the front seats, Valerie and Paulina fist bumped each other.

He turned away from the window and to the girls. "Where are we going?"

"Store," offered Paulina, stretching tiredly. She winced as pain shot up her back. "Ow, my back," she whined. Danny laughed.

They soon pulled into the Target parking lot, climbed out, and walked inside. "Woah," gawked Danny, eyes roaming over the many rows and counters of products. "This place is huge."

Paulina grinned, "If you think this is big, just wait till you get to Ikea."

The boy trailed behind the two girls, hands stuffed in his pockets, and his eyes wondering wordlessly over all the people and stuff. They stopped when Valerie came to the spot she needed to.

"Can I help you?"

She grabbed a pair of earbuds off a near by shelf and placed them down on the red counter the employee was behind. She raised her arm and pointed to a nearby counter with a line of phones. "Can I get an LG phone?"

The employee didn't seem to think it was too weird a sixteen year old was buying her own phone. "Which one?"

"The cheapest."

They nodded, walking off, and then returning a few minutes later with a white box. "Do you wanna pay here or up front?"

"Here is fine," she said.

Danny turned away from the interaction and aimlessly wondered off. He stared up at the wall of TV screens, impressed.

Paulina followed closely behind him. She glanced at the TVs and then at him. "You know how many movies I can play on these?" she asked teasingly.

He grinned, immediately lighting up at the opening for some banter. "I don't know," he shrugged, "like, three."

She cackled, then wheezed, grinning at him. "Well," she admitted, "you're not wrong."

He smiled.

"You can look around, if you want," she told him.

He titled his head curiously, dark hair falling in front of his blue eyes. "Won't Valerie be upset?"

"Psh, her?" she grinned, "She'll be fine. I'm gonna go get some snacks."

He nodded and she patted his head jokingly, then walked off in the direction of the food. The ghost boy glanced from side-to-side. Which way should he go? He settled on Paulina's opposite direction and wondered off to a new part of the store.

He drifted between the cleaning supplies, then the pharmacy. He let his eyes wander over the front bottles. There was medicine for pretty much everything.

Danny's eyes landed on one particular bottle labeled melatonin. "Sleep aid," he read. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I need that.

He grabbed the bottle and continued on his journey wondering around the story, when suddenly someone shouted at him. "Hey, Danny! Over here!" called Paulina, waving her arms.

He nodded at her and walked towards where her and Valerie were at a check out, waiting to pay. He tossed the bottle of melatonin on the crowded conveyor belt, which mostly carried a wide assortment of chips and gummy snacks.

Valerie paid for their stuff and they left the store, the sun slowly beginning to descend behind them. Paulina glanced at the setting sun and then at a bag of snacks in the red cart. "Man, I'm hungry," she declared, before grabbing the bag, ripping it out, and shoving a handful into her mouth.

They unloaded the groceries into the trunk and then piled into the car. Danny reached across his shoulder for his seatbelt and locked it into place. Valerie turned around to face him, holding up the white box. "Here," she said.

He blinked owlishly at her once then twice. He reached for the box and slowly took it into his hands. "This is... mine?"

"Duh," the huntress replied. "If we ever get separated, we need to contact you somehow."

The ghost boy stared down at the box in his hands. "Isn't this, uh, expensive?"

"I got the cheapest one available," she told him. "But if you break it, I'm not replacing it."

He nodded. "Uh, thank you."

"And we'll help you set it up!" added Paulina, smiling. Valerie nodded.

—

Danny woke up that night with a jolt, covered in sweat and heart beating rapidly. The memory of the electricity tickled his skin in the darkness. He fumbled for the lamp in the pitch black and almost knocked it over the night stand in the process. The room suddenly flooded with light, temporarily blinding him, and causing black spots to dance in front of his eyes.

His skin was sticky with sweat. His hair was matted and hanging in his face. He couldn't catch his breath. Every breath in felt like a thousand pounds and every breath out stung.

The dark-haired boy frantically kicked the blankets off of him, sitting up in the bed. The sheets clung grossly to his sweaty thighs.

He stared down at the bed, mind tiredly swimming and body aching. Every night he woke up at least twice from the same dream. Every night.

The melatonin had added him in falling asleep, but it did nothing to soothe the nightmares.

Danny sighed, reaching out for his phone on the night stand. He unplugged it from its charger and plugged its earbuds into it, then shoved them into his ears.

As promised, Valerie and Paulina had helped him set up the phone. They downloaded Kik to text him and then showed him a wide assortment of free apps. They helped him set up his own Spotify account after he spent twenty minutes listening to Paulina's. Her whole account was just different remixes of Gasolina packed into one large playlist.

He wasn't sure if it was a joke or not.

But he quickly came to decide that he loved music. He especially liked the one band Valerie had shown him, Humpty Dumpty. As much as he liked them, however, rock music really would not help him right now. So, settled for a piano playlist.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the soft melody flooding his mind rather than the anxiety creeping into his heart.

Music was nice. Music was good.

After a while, he changed the song, swung his feet over the edge of bed, and jumped off. He turned invisible and phased through his bedroom door, wondering around the house towards the direction he knew where the kitchen was.

He got himself a glass of water and sat down at the small table, letting his invisibility fall. The cold water soothed his aching throat.

At some point, he had calmed down. His breathing had returned to normal and his worried mind had faded away to focus on the beats of the song.

Danny stood up from his seat, placing the now empty glass in the sink, when suddenly a shiver ran down his spine. Coldness like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him suddenly consumed him. A fuzzy blue wisp escaped his cold lips.

He watched it fade into the air, then glanced in te direction of Valerie's bedroom. It was some time during the ass crack of the night. Valerie was a heavy sleeper, she would probably sleep through her beeping ghost radar. She needed the rest, anyway. Danny decided he could handle this one alone.

White light consumed his body in an instant. The lights pushed into their rings, split, and then vanished.

Now in ghost form, the ghost boy jumped into the air, phasing out of the building, and flying upward. He floated above the quiet street, his own ghostly glow and the street lights being the only source of light. He scanned the neighborhood until he found who he was looking forward.

The ghost had his back faced to him. He was small and a little pudgy. His skin was an eery blue and he wore tattered overalls.

Danny tilted his head, eyes glowing curiously, and white hair falling in his face. "Uh," he spoke up, voice echoing oddly, "can I help you?"

The ghost whipped around to face him. "Ah-ha!" he cried, "So, you are the halfa they speak of!"

"Uh, I guess?" he shrugged, legs forming into a wispy ghost tail.

"I am the Box Ghost!" the ghost declared dramatically, nearly shouting his declaration. "And I have come to challenge you, half-ghost!"

His ghost form flowed gentle, soothing energy through his veins. Danny couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "The Box Ghost?"

"Yes!" he shouted, then paused. "Wait, why are you laughing?"

Danny held his hand up to hid his snickering giggles, but the way his body shook gave it away.

"Stop your humanly giggles, halfa!" the Box Ghost wailed. "How dare you laugh at me! The Box Ghost! The Ghost Zone's greatest supplier of all cardboard and square devices."

The ghost boy couldn't help it. He lost it.

He fell over in the air as he laughed, body shaking. He wheezed continuously, unable to breathe.

"This is not funny, halfa! You will come to fear me! BEWARE!"

Danny's laughter turned into a cackle.

The Box Ghost's eyes narrowed. He raised his arms above him head and a box materialized into his hands. He pointed the empty box at the ghost boy. "Feel my wr-!"

Danny raised his hand, making a finger gun. A tiny ghost ray shot out, easily disintegrating the box.

The Box Ghost flew backwards dramatically, shaking his fist at the other ghost. "You have won this time, halfling!" he shouted. "But I'll get you next time!"

The ghost boy could do nothing but hysterical laugh as the Box Ghost flew away. Once he had vanished, his laughter faded to giggles. He wheezed, trying to catch his breath, and sitting up in the air. He giggled again.

"You're in a good mood," a voice suddenly said behind him.

Danny jolted, whirling around to face a very tired Red Huntress. "Sorry," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath. "I didn't want to wake you up."

Valerie yawned behind her visor, flying lower. She sat down on the roof of her house, her feet hanging off the edge. Her hover board retracted back into her suit. "My suit kept beeping," she groaned.

The white-haired boy smiled sympathetically at her, then flew over next to the huntress. He slowly floated down to the roof and sat down next to her on the edge.

"Who was it?"

"Oh," laughed Danny. "Someone named the Box Ghost."

A smile twitched at Valerie's lips. "Oh, yeah. He's real threatening."

He suddenly froze, staring off with alarm at the direction the Box Ghost flew off towards. "I, uh, let him go," he winced.

"That's fine," yawned Valerie, shoulders slumping with exhaustion.

He raised his finger, "But—"

"Seriously, Danny, he's not a threat to anyone," she promised. "The worst anyone's gotten from him is free boxes."

Danny's concerned expression immediately dropped, replaced with a cocky grin. "He only brought one box to challenge me."

"That's sad," she said. "Even for him."

The two laughed together.

Valerie looked up at the night sky. "The star's are pretty tonight."

He titled his head, eyes sparkly cutely. "Stars?" he asked, then looked up and gasped.

He decided right then and right there that he absolutely loved the stars. Perhaps he could or remember a whole lot from when he had been sight seeing before the facility, but he was sure that very few of them came close to this.

How could he describe it? How could he even begin to describe it?

The pitch black sky was the perfect canvas. Beautiful small dots, the stars, speckled the sky. They set wonderfully with the town in the Amity Park.

Danny's heart filled with a sudden warmth as forgotten memories flooded him. Glowing green ceiling stickers in his bedroom. His first telescope at the age of six. Dozens and dozens of books about space. His sticky hands as he attempted to put together a rocket ship model. Laying in the backyard with a woman, his mother, and staring up at the night sky.

The rush of memories slowly faded from in front of his eyes, leaving a wistful smile on his lips.

Valerie stood up, yawning. "I'm going back to sleep," she told him. He nodded in acknowledgment and she flew off back into her room.

Danny reached into the badly damaged pockets of his ghost form and pulled out his phone. He gently put the earbuds back into his ears and turned it onto something calming that lulled at his tired mind.

The boy looked up at the sparkling sky and smiled.

—-

Every night when he woke up from the nightmares, Danny came to sit up on the roof, watching the show above with a gentle smile. Some nights there were very few stars or none. Others the whole sky was covered in them.

But Danny thought that every night was beautiful.

—

A/N: I'm so sorry :( this took forever and it's actually the shortest chapter so far. It took me so long to just write this much, I just decided to post it now instead of forcing you guys to wait any longer . I'm really sorry. I'm really struggling to write these parts that don't really push froward the plot, but just push forward the characters, so haha, idk. I'm very tired. Anyways, thank you for the reads and the comments! I'm sorry this took so long


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